The Communications Director of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has rubbished claims that the former Chairman of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, is being targeted following his arrest by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
Professor Frimpong-Boateng was arrested by the OSP last month to answer questions about suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of the activities and expenditure of the dissolved IMCIM he chaired.
However, the former IMCIM Chairman, after his arrest and subsequent GH¢2 million bail, said in a recent media interview that he felt he was being victimized.
The NPP Communications Director stated that the report by the former IMCIM Chairman did not follow the rudiments of report writing and that the OSP invited him to clarify some issues.
But justifying the OSP’s arrest on the Big Issue on Citi TV hosted by Selorm Adonoo, Mr. Ahiagbah said: “I think that the investigation of the OSP must be allowed time to evolve. And once that evolves, it will lead to the right places where concerns will bring to light the challenges the IMCIM faced, and who in the IMCIM was at fault. The law will work from there. Professor Frimpong-Boateng is the man in the arena, and starting with him will lead us to the rest involved. If you want to address the issue, you start from the head.
He added: “Or, based on the report he brought, they wanted clarity. If you read the so-called report of the former IMCIM Chairman, it is not a report in the traditional sense. It is more of a narrative, putting together of things happening. So if you are reading it, you need clarification. You need somebody to explain to you the connection of things. It is not logical how you lay out a report. I don’t feel that he is being targeted.”
He opined that concerted efforts are needed in dealing with the galamsey menace.
“This galamsey is existential and nobody can deny it. We must come to it from a non-political standpoint, from a solution-oriented, ideas standpoint. We must say that this has been tried and that has been tried. How about this? Can we try that? That for me will be a progressive conversation to have.”
He charged Ghanaians to follow the OSP’s investigations.
“Now there is an investigation going on, we are all interested. We must follow it duly and get to the point where we actually find the evidence that the OSP will come up with,” he said.
