Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu ,has said that the opinion of the Attorney-General on the illegal small-scale mining report issued by former chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, cannot be allowed to stand.
He described the A-G’s opinion as nauseating and one that is whitewashing the ‘blatant, flagrant’ destruction of the forest by illegal miners (Galamseyers).
The Attorney-General’s advice on the ‘galamsey’ report concluded that “in the absence of any evidence on the docket in support of any of the allegations of illegal mining activities, we are unable to recommend the prosecution of any of the persons cited in the Report. They should therefore be discharged. We however await the outcome of the investigations conducted in the case involving Seth Mantey, John Ofori Atta and Ekow Ewusi.”
But speaking on News 360 on TV3 on Tuesday, October 10, Kpebu said “Apart from the matter of Seth Mantey, John Ofori-Atta and Ekow Ewusi, the rest of the report presents a whitewashing of such blatant and flagrant destruction of our forest.
“The A-G’s opinion is whitewashing the situation, it is very nauseating. I can’t believe that the A-G will issue such an opinion, it is not good. We have to wake up and make all the noise we can to indicate to the Attorney-General that this kind of legal opinion is not on in Ghana, we can’t allow that to stand.
“I didn’t see any part of the report showing that proper investigations were conducted. What do I mean by that? Who went to ascertain the destruction that Prof Frimpong-Boateng was talking about? None is shown in the opinion of the A-G. What inquiries were made from the Minerals Commission based on the pictures of the destruction that the Frimpong-Boateng showed?
Was there any basis for the destruction, was C&J Aleska authorized to mine? As far as we are aware, I am going with Prof Frimpong-Boateng, they were not authorized to mine, yet the A-G’s opinion doesn’t talk about investigations from the Minerals Commission. That is key because in Ghanaian law you cannot mine without a mining lease.”
The Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice has concluded its review of a docket submitted by the Police on the allegations contained in a 36-page document written and signed by Professor Frimpong-Boateng entitled “Report on the work of IMCIM so far and the way forward”.
The A-G’s Advice, dated 12th September, 2023, and delivered to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service on 14th September, 2023, was signed by a Chief State Attorney, Mrs. Evelyn Keelson, of the Prosecutions Division of the Office of the Attorney-General.
Background stated by the A-G
In the Advice to the CID, the Chief State Attorney notes that on 2nd March 2023, Professor Frimpong-Boateng, a former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and a former chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) was a guest on Ghana Broadcasting Corporation’s television program, “Legends of our Time.”
On that programme, he alleged that some government officials and private citizens were involved in illegal mining activities – “galamsey”. When the attention of the Police was drawn to the said allegations, they wrote to Professor Frimpong Boateng on 20th March 2023 and requested his assistance in connection with investigations into the alleged involvement of government officials in galamsey.
On 21st March, 2023, the Police visited the Professor at his residence to elicit further information with respect to the allegations. At this meeting, the Professor did not name any government official involved in illegal mining activities. However, he submitted a number of documents to the Police. Notable among the documents was the 36-page report presented by him to the Chief of Staff.
Persons cited in the report as being involved in illegal mining activities were Laud Commey, Charles Nii Teiko Tagoe, Frank Asiedu Bekoe a.k.a. Protozoa, Hon. Joseph Albert Quarm, Charles Owusu, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, Captain (Rtd.) Edmund Kojo Koda, Donald Entsuah and an unnamed former Member of Parliament for Wassa East Constituency.
Three individuals – Seth Mantey, John Ofori Atta and Ekow Ewusi were alleged to be involved in the sale of excavators, whilst Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and Kwaku Baako Jnr. are said to have done acts which directly or indirectly inhibited the Professor in his fight against illegal mining.
Process of investigations and findings
The A-G’s Advice to the CID, sets out the various allegations made by Prof Frimpong Boateng against each of the named persons and records that the Police interviewed and took statements from the persons cited in the allegations contained in the report.
The Advice notes that all of the individuals named in Prof Boateng’s report denied the various allegations made against them in the report. However, “several attempts by the Police to obtain further information from Professor Frimpong Boateng to substantiate the allegations in the Report and to assist them to conduct further investigations proved futile. The Professor refused to provide any further information to the police.
He also declined to give a written statement, claiming his Report is ‘an embodiment of his statement’ and all the information he has on the allegations” – the Chief State Attorney, Mrs. Keelson stated.
The Attorney-General stated further that, investigations by the Police have not revealed any evidence in support of the allegations. “The allegations are therefore bare and do not provide a basis for any criminal charge against the persons cited in the Report” – the Advice stated.
Examination of other documents
The Office of the Attorney-General states in the Advice to the CID, they examined other documents submitted by Prof Frimpong Boateng. The Advice notes that apart from the report which contained the main allegations, Professor Frimpong Boateng also submitted the following documents to the Police:
- a compilation of online publications by com. These publications are not related to the allegations made by the Professor in his report.
- a compilation of letters from the Forestry Commission signed by Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, granting approval for the issuance of entry permit to various companies to conduct exploratory activities in specific forest reserves.
- a compilation of an updated list of small scale miners permitted to work as at 7th July, 2020.
- a statement given to the Police by Seth Mantey with NIB statements of account and deposit slips.
- a decision by CHRAJ in a case filed against Professor Frimpong Boateng by Arnold Agbodo on concessions granted to the Professor’s son.
- a compilation of excavators kept at Aviation, Adenta.
The A-G observed that with the exception of the statement of Seth Mantey and some statements of account from NIB which provide some relevant information in respect of allegations against Seth Mantey, John Ofori Atta and Ekow Ewusi, none of the documents presented by Prof Frimpong Boateng provided any relevant information in support of the allegations contained in his report.
The A-G further states that the Police also procured two pen drives: one from the Professor and another one from GBC. The first pen drive only contains videos of some mining areas captured by the IMCIM. The other pen drive is a recording of an interview granted to GTV by Professor Frimpong Boateng on a program “Legends of Our Time”.
The interview was mainly on the Professor’s life. At the tail end of that interview, he alleged that some government officials were involved in galamsay activities without mentioning any names.
The Attorney-General indicates that a careful study of the Report, the various documents and pen drives submitted to the Police did not disclose any evidence in support of the allegations made against the persons cited in the Report, with the exception of Seth Mantey, John Ofori Atta and Ekow Ewusi, in respect of whom the A-G instructs the Police to conclude their investigations and present a report to him.
The A-G’s advice however notes that even though the Police diary of action shows that John Ofori Atta was invited by the police, there is no indication that he was interviewed or that a statement was taken from him. There is also no statement from Mr. Ekow Ewusi on the docket. The A-G instructed the Police to wind up investigations on that issue and furnish him with a report on same.
The Attorney-General’s Advice concludes that “in the absence of any evidence on the docket in support of any of the allegations of illegal mining activities, we are unable to recommend the prosecution of any of the persons cited in the Report. They should therefore be discharged. We however await the outcome of the investigations conducted in the case involving Seth Mantey, John Ofori Atta and Ekow Ewusi.”