All 500 stolen excavators will soon be found – Prof Frimpong Boateng assures

Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng has assured Ghanaians that the over 500 missing excavators will soon be found.

He told journalists at Parliament House on Thursday that the security agencies are busily working on an official complaint lodged by his outfit and certain the equipment said to have been sold by some persons will be found.

“Every excavators that has been stolen will be found”, he said in response to a question about the whereabouts of the equipment stolen under his watch.

Questioned if he whether or not if he was sleeping on the job in view of the fact that he has armed soldiers guarding the seized excavators before they were stolen, he responded “I was not sleeping on the job and they did not disappear overnight”

The Minister stressed” you will get the facts pretty soon. I don’t want to overstep what the security agencies are doing” adding that he has achieved 70% in the fight against galamsey.

It would be recalled that over 500 excavators used by galamsey operators had been seized by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) and parked at various district assemblies for safe keeping as prosecutions proceeded but the Minister shockingly weeks ago stated that the excavators have gone missing.

As a result Six (6) persons are in the grips of police for stealing or aiding in the stealing of excavators and other equipment.

The suspects are Frederick Ewusi, Joel Asamoah, Adam Haruna, Frank Gyan and John Arhin and the suspended Central Regional Vice Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) at Abelemkpe in Accra on Monday, according to a news release signed Deputy Superintendent of Police and head of Public Affairs of Criminal Investigations Department(CID), Juliana Obeng and released today, 4th February, 2020.