The governing New Patriotic Party has defended the Minister of Environment, Science and Innovation Prof Frimpong Boateng in the raging missing excavators saga.
The Minister a viral video of which a voice purported to be that of Professor Frimpong Boateng was discussing concessions of mining sites to cronies of the governing party.
The party’s General Secretary John Boadu and Ashanti Regional minister Wontumi are mentioned in the secret recording as well.
Addressing journalists in Accra today February 6 2020 , the NPP Director of Communications, Yaw Buabeng Asamoah said: “Prof. Frimpong raised that matter himself, nobody did that for him. So far as I’m concerned, Prof. Boateng’s integrity is intact. So the question is what do you do after he raised the matter? the fact is some of the excavators have been found and people have been arrested and some of those people including the ruling party members.â€Â
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Meanwhile, former Lands and Natural Resources Minister Alhaji Inusah Fuseini has accused the Environment Minister who doubles as the Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining Professor Frimpong Boateng of fraudulent breaches of trust.
He said the Prof Frimpong Boateng's action is quite shocking, the video was damning. Adding the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining taskforce was set up to provide cover for some persons to continue engaging in illegal mining.
He also urged Prof Frimpong-Boateng to resign following the leaked tape on the missing excavators.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service probing into the 500 missing excavators seized in the clampdown of illegal mining have invited the Agona West constituency chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kojo Addo, for questioning.
He was invited by the CID, Tuesday afternoon when he was attending to some issues in the constituency.
He is alleged to have had a hand in the missing excavators, hence, the invitation to assist the CID to unravel the circumstances that led to the missing of the earth moving equipment.