A man who identified himself as Agya Owusu has come out to say that a mining concession he owned which turn out to be an illegal mining site was sold to him by the former Member of Parliament for Nkwanta, Joseph Albert Quarm.
According to Agya Owusu, soldiers came to stop him from mining and burnt his mining equipment; saying that his concession was illegal because it was close to a river.
Speaking to the media at the mining site in a viral video sighted by GhanaWeb, Agya Owusu said that he informed Albert Quarm of what transpired but the former MP has done nothing to help him up to date.
He added that he sent the documents on the mining concession to Accra for authentication after which he will decide on the action to take against the former MP.
“One of the soldiers told me that having a concession close to a river is illegal so they had to burn my equipment.
“I called the person who sold me the land to inform him of what has transpired but up to date he has said nothing meaningful for me, he has not even said sorry.
“The person who sold the concession to me is the former MP, Prof Quarm,” he said in Twi.
Background
A former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, named some former and current members of parliament as well as top government officials who are allegedly involved in illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) in Ghana.
Portions of a report on illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) in Ghana by Prof Frimpong Boateng, indicated that these MPs and government officials were either directly involved in galamsey or were using their power to protect relatives who were involved in the menace.
The 36-page report, which Prof Frimpong addressed to the Chief of Staff and the Ghana Police Service, according to myjoyonline.com, implicated the former MP for Manso Nkwanta, Joseph Albert Quarm.
"He (the former NPP MP) used his position as a member of the Minerals Commission to acquire several dozens of large-scale concessions in his district, ostensibly for community mining purposes. He ended up selling these concessions to private individuals, including party members for GH¢200,000 per concession.
Joseph Albert Quarm has, however, firmly refuted the claims made by Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.
Speaking with Aduanaba Kofi Ampong on Ezra Morning show on Friday, monitored by GhanaWeb, Quarm called out the claims by Frimpong Boateng’s report as mere false accusations that seek to tarnish his image.
According to him, the Minerals Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources legally established community mining in his constituency and he doesn't know if that was what Frimpong Boateng's report has captured as illegal operations by him.
“I don't even have one concession not even to talk of dozen concessions sold by me, as stated in his report. He doesn't have any substantive evidence on his statement so I'm challenging him to come out with evidence,” Quarm said,
"I do expect him to retract and apologize over his false reportage that seeks to denigrate my reputation, else he will have to meet in court to prove otherwise,” he added.
Watch a video of Agya Owusu’s remarks below:
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Former Member of Parliament for Nkwanta, Joseph Albert Quarm