Sammy Gyamfi calls Jubilee House crime scene over galamsey report

Sammy Gyamfi calls Jubilee House crime scene over galamsey report

Private legal practitioner and outspoken politician Sammy Gyamfi has lashed out at the seat of government, describing it as a crime scene following the report on illegal mining also known as galamsey.

Mr. Gyamfi says the report on galamsey authored by Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, the former chairman of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) is evident that the Jubilee House is a fertile ground where illegalities prevail.

Joining Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on Thursday, April 27, 2023, as a pundit,  Sammy Gyamfi, who is the National Communications Officer of the main opposition NDC took a swipe at President Akufo-Addo for not acting on the report which was presented to the Chief of Staff Frema Opare on March 19, 2021.

“Professor Frimpong-Boateng is not an ordinary person talking but this was the man who was in charge of the fight and he has not just written a report and kept under his bed but submitted it to the Presidency and indicated that he is ready to substantiate those allegations,” he said.

He added, “In fact, in some of the instances, he has even given us evidence including videos, pictures, and messages and so we must get to the bottom of these issues.

Mr. Gyamfi cited the report implicating Mr. Joseph Albert Quarm, the former Member of Parliament for Manso Nkwanta and a leading member of the NPP, to buttress his point.

“Then he talks about the former NPP MP for Manso Nkwanta who under the guise of community mining also acquired a lot of concessions. So you see, the Jubilee House today is a crime scene,” Sammy Gyamfi argued.

In a 37-page report available to Metro News, Prof Frimpong-Boateng, the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, named some government officials he claims of thwarting his efforts to combat what is colloquially known as ‘galamsey’ when he was in office.

“Throughout our struggle with illegalities in the small-scale mining sector, what baffled me was the total disregard of the President’s commitment to protecting the environment.

“I can state without any equivocation that many party officials from the national to the unit committee level had their friends, PAs, agents, relatives, financiers, or relatives engaged in illegal mining. Most of them engaged Chinese working for them.

“I am not referring to party people who had their legitimate concession and were mining sustainably as they were instructed to do.

“There are appointees in the Jubilee House that are doing or supporting illegal mining or interfering with the fight against the menace,” excerpts of the document said.

Meanwhile, the Office of the President has dismissed claims made by former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Chairperson of the erstwhile Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, in a report on illegal small-scale mining.

According to the Presidency, the claims in the report are a catalogue of grievances of Prof. Frimpong-Boateng and could best be described as hearsay.

The Presidency also described the document as not being an official report before Cabinet as it was submitted in an informal way.

“At the outset, it must be pointed out that the document being discussed was not an official report formally delivered to the Office of the President. On the contrary, it can only be rightly referred to as a catalogue of personal grievances and claims made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, intended to respond to some issues he faced as Chairperson of the IMCIM.”

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