The Executive Director of the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), Mensah Thompson, clashed on live TV with Ernest Owusu Bempah, a deputy communications officer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
During a panel discussion on UTV's Adekye Nsroma on Thursday, April 27, 2023, Ernest Owusu Bempah accused former President John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of being responsible for Ghana's failure to tackle galamsey.
The NPP deputy communications officer even asked ex-President Mahama to apologise to Ghanaians for his contribution to the failure to fight galamsey.
Owusu Bempah's comments did not sit well with Mensah Thompson, who was the second of three panellists on the programme.
The ASEPA boss, who was visibly irritated, said that Owusu Bempah's attempt to blame Mahama for the failure of the Akufo-Addo government was disrespectful to the people of Ghana.
"You don't respect yourself... Can you imagine Owusu Bempeh sits on TV and telling Ghanaians that it is the NDC and President Mahama who have made President Akufo-Addo fail in the fight against galamsey? Can you imagine such an insult?
"You think Ghanaians are fools. You have been given the power now; if NDC members are doing galamsey, arrest them. What are you waiting for?
"Am I the president? Is (former) President Mahama the president? If you (the NPP government) are caught in your web of corruption, then you want to blame it on Mahama," he said in Twi.
Owusu Bempah also insisted that Mahama must be blamed for the increase in galamsey activities in the country and said that those who are accusing President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his appointees of masterminding the menace must provide evidence.
The two men were at each other's throats until the programme came to an end. Their disagreement started as they reacted to a report on galamsey in Ghana by the former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.
In his report, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, the former chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), named members of parliament and top government officials who are allegedly involved in illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) in Ghana.
Portions of his report indicated that these MPs and government officials were either directly involved in galamsey or were using their power to protect those 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; director of operations at the presidency, Lord Commey; executive assistant and head of social media at the presidency, Charles Nii Teiko; and Frank Asiedu Bekoe, director of political affairs at the Office of the Chief of Staff.
Prof. Frimpong Boateng also accused the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, of hatching a plot to bring him down over his (Frimpong Boateng's) fight against the menace.
Even though some government officials cited in the report have refuted the allegations, the Office of the President has indicated that the report was not formally delivered to the Office of the President.
It described the 37-page report as a catalogue of personal grievances by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, intended to respond to some issues he faced as Chairperson of the IMCIM.
It added that while Prof. Frimpong-Boateng makes serious allegations against some government appointees as having been involved in, supporting or interfering with the fight against illegal mining, not a single piece of evidence was adduced or presented to enable the claims to be properly investigated.
The Office of the President described the allegations contained in the document as hearsay.
Mensah Thompson (right), Ernest Owusu Bempah (left)
