Kwabena Agyepong, former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who is aspiring to be the party's flagbearer and presidential candidate for the 2024 election, has called for urgent attention on Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng‘s galamsey report.
In the report presented to the Chief of Staff in March 2021, Professor Frimpong-Boateng, the former Minister of Science, Environment, Technology, and Innovation, accused some NPP officials of engaging in and promoting illegal mining activities.
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According to Mr Agyepong, if he were President, the report would not have been lying on his desk for two years without any attention.
He said, “That report will not lie on my desk for two years without attention if indeed he did.”
Mr Agyepong, however, believes that Professor Frimpong-Boateng could have come out boldly to tell the President to implement some recommendations in the report and resign if the President failed to do so.
“Why has Prof taken so long? Now that you are out, people would say it is because you are no more (in government) that's why you are coming out now. I would have expected that when he was the Minister then, the firm action would be to come out to Cabinet that I want to do this and that, and if the President says he wouldn't agree, then he resigns,” he opined.
In the meantime, Mr Agyepong has disclosed his plans to put a moratorium on surface mining, including community mining, to regenerate the forests in the country if he becomes President.
He believes that the only mining activity he would approve as President is deep mining, which involves huge capital to ensure sustainable mining.
“I have said that mining has not been good for Africa. What has Ghana gotten from mining? Go to where we mine in the country, and you will see abject poverty. I don't like the galamsey at all,” he said.
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