Special Prosecutor promises to deal with persons found guilty in mining sector

: Politics; 02 May 2023

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has indicated it will take necessary action against all persons deemed culpable of corruption and corruption-related offenses in the mining sector.

This was revealed in a press statement released by the OSP in relation to calls from individuals and concerned groups to deal with names mentioned in the much talked about galamsey report by Professor Frimpong Boateng

In the statement, the OSP said “On October 10, 2022, it published that it had commenced an investigation into suspected corruption and corruption-related offenses in respect of illegal mining.

It was stated that the investigation targeted the activities and expenditure of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), especially in respect of the seizure and management of excavators, machinery, road vehicles, and gold nuggets and officials of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Forestry Commission and other public officials and private persons”.

The statement added that the OSP acknowledges the recent calls for action and investigations into these matters by the public and civil society following the publication of a report on parts of these matters authored by a former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and head of the dissolved IMCIM.

“The OSP welcomes the calls for action and investigations, and it assures the public and civil society that its investigation is ongoing and far-reaching, and it also covers the matters raised in the report published by the head of the dissolved IMCIM”, the Special Prosecutor said.

It would be recalled that Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng released a report on galamsey and made a number of accusations against current and former government officials as the cause of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining’s (IMCIM) failure to combat illegal mining in the nation between January 2017 and January 2021.

In the report, the former Minister called out names such as Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko and the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah for preventing the dissolved IMCIM from doing its work.