Uncle of President Akufo-Addo addresses the media at his residence in Kyebi.
An uncle of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has denied that illicit small-scale mining (galamsey) affected a portion of the president's private residence in his hometown of Kyebi.
Following a visit to the residence, the unnamed relative stated to journalists that Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the former minister of environment, should be invited to the residence to establish otherwise.
Frimpong-Boateng claimed in a recently leaked 2021 report that he had to dispatch machines to reclaim and replant a portion of the president's residence after galamsey was committed by a New Patriotic Party local official.
"I would have greatly appreciated it if Prof. Frimpong-Boateng had shown us the exact location of the galamsey; perhaps he knows this residence better than we do.
"As for myself, having been born and raised in Kyebi and having lived here my entire life, perhaps he can come and show us (evidence) because the disgrace he is bestowing upon my niece is unkind.
The uncle asked, "If he (Akufo-Addo) has helped Ghana up until this point, will galamsey help him?"
The 36-page report authored by Frimpong-Boateng during his tenure as chairman of the government's anti-galamsey taskforce has elicited a number of rebuttals, denials, and challenges for evidence, as well as legal action threats from some of the individuals mentioned.
The report was not formally submitted to the Office of the President, the presidency said in a statement.