Frimpong-Boateng's involvement in galamsey is confirmed by the CHRAJ commissioner, according to the report.
Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has been exonerated of illicit mining, also known as galamsey, according to a report issued by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). The CHRAJ's Commissioner has endorsed the report.
Joseph Whittall, in response to the contents of a 160-page document that investigated whether or not the former minister of environment, science, technology, and innovation was involved in galamsey, stated that the man is not complicit in any of the allegations.
Arnold Agbodu, the petitioner who prompted the investigation of the Professor, sought to determine, among other things, if Symphony Limited, a company belonging to the Chair of the former IMCIM, was in possession of five concessions, and if he had committed any act of corruption or abuse of power by owning concessions without paying the Annual mineral rights to the Minerals Commission.
Mr. Whittall addressed the issue on Ghana Tonight on TV3 on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, stating, "What I know is that the Commission investigated the case involving allegations of illegal mining against Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, but investigations have been concluded and the report has been issued. And the parties have been served with this report.
"We investigated allegations made against Prof. Frimpong Boateng, conducted a very thorough investigation, and concluded that he was not involved in any illegal mining concession," he said.
When the host, Alfred Ocansey, asked the CHRAJ Commissioner to clarify that, according to his investigations, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, his wife, and now his son were not involved in illegal mining, the CHRAJ Commissioner responded, "in fact, that was the case, that was our conclusion."
In 2017, President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo established an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) charged with monitoring the activities of galamsey operators and prosecuting their perpetrators.
Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng was charged with leading the committee that was disbanded immediately following the 2020 elections.
In March 2021, the Chair submitted a report to the Chief of Staff that implicated government officials and party apparatchiks in the illicit mining industry.
Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, former Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Mafo, New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawyer Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, former NPP lawmaker Joseph Albert Quarm, and Kwadwo Osei Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John, who died on July 1, 2020, as the Forestry Commission Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Some of them have denied the accusations and threatened to sue.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng also stated in his report that, with the exception of two, the committee's ministers abandoned the project.
In the meantime, the Presidency has dismissed the report as conjecture, claiming that its contents are the Professor's personal vendetta against certain individuals.