The Director of Political Affairs at the Office of the Chief of Staff, Frank Asiedu Bekoe, has hit back at Professor Frimpong Boateng for not thinking through and seeing the need to support his statements with data and empirical evidence in the allegations he made over government officials he claims were dabbling in galamsey.
Speaking for the first time on the issue on Wontumi Radio’s Ghana Nti Show hosted by Isaac Oteng in Accra, Mr. Frank Asiedu Bekoe popularly known as Protozoa, stated that “I was expecting that as a Professor of Science, he will apply data and empirical evidence when dealing with people’s integrity. He has to be careful how he maligns people.”
The Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice has cleared government officials of allegations of illegal mining activities made by Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, a former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and a former chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
Professor Frimpong Boateng alleged in a 36-page document titled “Report on the work of IMCIM so far and the way forward” that some government officials and private citizens were involved in illegal mining activities – “galamsey”.
Prominent names cited in the report included Laud Commey, Charles Nii Teiko Tagoe, Frank Asiedu Bekoe a.k.a. Protozoa, Joseph Albert Quarm, Charles Owusu, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, Captain (Rtd.) Edmund Kojo Koda, Donald Entsuah and an unnamed former Member of Parliament for Wassa East Constituency.
But Protozoa stated that he has requested for a copy of the document and visited the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to find out the allegations from Professor Frimpong Boateng he is supposed to answer to.
“They asked Professor Frimpong Boateng for evidence and he said they should take his words”, Protozoa recounted how sadly a Professor of Science is assisting the CID with investigations.
