The Minister of Justice and Attorney General has justified his decision not to recommend the prosecution of any of the persons mentioned in Professor Frimpong-Boateng’s galamsey report.
Godfred Yenoah Dame said it will be a height of injustice to prosecute any of the persons without evidence.
“The work we did was an analysis of the allegation made against the individuals in the report, and there was only one conclusion, so we couldn’t keep the matter hanging,” he explained.
In an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Thursday, Mr Dame insisted that, the government is committed to the fight against galamsey and will not shield anybody found culpable.
However, he stressed that, due process must be followed in the prosecution of such persons.
“Prosecution is always on the back of proper evidence and due process so it will be the height of injustice if we decide to prosecute these people,” he said.
The Minister’s comment comes on the back of an opinion on the former Environment Minister’s 36-page document titled Report on the work of IMCIM so far and the way forward.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng, who is the former Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) mentioned names of people in government whom he claimed frustrated his effort to fight the menace.
Though he stated he stands by everything in the report, some of the persons mentioned denied any involvement in galamsey and initiated legal action.
After looking into report, the Attorney-General asked the police to discharge the persons mentioned because the report is empty, except for three still under investigation.
This action has angered the National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi who has alleged that, Mr Dame lacks interest in prosecuting government officials engaged in corruption-related offences.
In his view, the AG’s opinion on the galamsey report is yet another attempt to cover up clear acts of corruption by government officials and NPP members.
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