The Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate the scandals contained in a report by a former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng on galamsey.
The report by the heart surgeon who is also the former chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) points to violations of fundamental human rights, alleged corrupt practices, issues of conflict of interest and abuse of public office by certain public officials and others.
The petition filed by lawyers for the MP dated April 25, 2023, stated “…the following findings of corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of public office were made: “On Monday 11th January 2021, the task force entered a concession at a location called Bepotenten we had been monitoring for some times. Residents in the area complained about harassment by Chinese miners. The damage to the forest reserve was unimaginable. Big economic trees had been felled and dumped into muddy water bodies to rot. Huge pits were scattered over dozens of acres land. Near cocoa farms had been destroyed. Seven excavators were seized, As usual so[1]called big men started calling. First was Mr. Charles Owusu, who claimed ownership of the concession and of the excavators. This individual happens to be the Operations Manager of the Forestry Commission and there he was mining in a forest reserve without any permit and destroying forests, farm lands, water bodies and indeed the entire biodiversity.”
Find the petition below
