The Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has disclosed that Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, a former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, as well as a former chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), has not provided the required evidence to support his report on illegal mining for the prosecution of individuals implicated in the report.
“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 Attorney-General advised the Police CID.
The advice from the Attorney-General, dated September 12, 2023, and delivered to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service on September 14, 2023, was signed by Mrs. Evelyn Keelson, a Chief State Attorney from the Prosecutions Division of the Office of the Attorney-General.
The advice from the Attorney-General also specifies that the investigations conducted by the Police did not uncover any evidence substantiating the allegations made by Professor Frimpong Boateng against any of the individuals mentioned in his report.
“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.
The Attorney-General further noted that the Police’s records indicate that John Ofori Atta was invited by the police, but there is no indication that he was interviewed or that a statement was taken from him. Similarly, there is no statement from Mr. Ekow Ewusi in the docket. In response to this, the Attorney-General instructed the Police to conclude their investigations regarding this matter and provide him with a report on their findings.
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,” parts of the advice read.
