The defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) Chair’s arrest by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), is a calculated attempt to silence him, Private legal practitioner, Justice Abdulai, has said.
He says the arrest of the former minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation raises suspicion and could be a move by the government to cover up illegality in galamsey-related activities.
Professor Frimpong-Boateng was arrested by the OSP in May 2023 to answer questions about suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of the activities and expenditure of the dissolved IMCIM, which he chaired.
READ ALSO: NPP members masterminded my removal to indulge in galamsey – Prof. Frimpong-Boateng
In some of the questions raised by Justice Abdulai on the development, he wondered “how do those cases mentioned in the report by the Professor get shrouded in secrecy and treated as though they do not even exist? It then creates suspicion and indeed mischief in the minds of people and every watcher that the arrest of the Professor is a clear attempt to simply gag him sort of or cover up some of these matters on illegal mining.
“But I do not think that if you are transparent, honest and indeed committed to fighting corruption and ensuring accountability within our public sector system, this will be the right way to go,” he said on Accra-based Citi FM.
According to the private legal practitioner, the Professor could have been invited by the OSP to perform same function as Chair of the collapsed IMCIM rather than being arrested.
“The Professor may indeed be the head of IMCIM, he may have more answers, but couldn’t we have achieved the same objective by inviting him, rather than arresting him? Because the man has already shown that he’s committed to giving out information, he’s not afraid of giving more information. You could have divulged more information from him that could have aided the fight against galamsey and corruption,” he intimated.
READ ALSO: Frimpong-Boateng ‘arrested’ by OSP over corruption-related activities
