Akufo-Addo's Kibi residence was never used for galamsey, according to NPP Abuakwa South's Frimpong Boateng.

Photograph of an NPP flag

Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng's claims that illicit mining (galamsey) occurs within a few meters of President Akufo-Addo's residence in Akim Kibi, Eastern Region, are false, according to the Abuakwa South New Patriotic Party (NPP).

In a statement made available to Angelonline.com.gh on April 25, 2023, co-signed by the Communication Officer and Constituency Secretary of the Abuakwa South NPP, Felix Nyarko Acheampong and Julius Okyere, the executives expressed grave concern over the former minister's allegations.

Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, a former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation who chaired the government's Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), stated in his 37-page report to the chief of staff on the fight against illegal mineral exploitation that a party youth organizer had a concession in Kibi closer to the president's residence.

According to the document, the Youth Organizer in question is engaged in illegal mining in an area near to the President's residence, thus affecting portions of the First Gentleman's garden, a phenomenon he claimed occurred on the President's blind side.

However, the executives expressing grave concern over the claims in the statement stated categorically that Professor Frimpong Boateng's publication is "falsehood" and intended only to tarnish the reputation of the ruling government.

"The executives wish to state unequivocally that this is part of Professor Boateng's suspicious grand scheme to use the state's power to settle personal scores, most likely to punish the President for not reappointing him Minister of State in his second term, but it also appears to be part of a grand plan to arm our opponents with weapons they do not deserve in the run-up to the 2024 elections.

In the first place, the allegation that "the Youth Organizer of the NPP in Kyebi" is involved in any kind of unlawful activity is vague, as it does not specify what level of the party structure the Youth Organizer held at the time of the alleged incident. Was he or she a Youth Organizer at a Polling Station, Constituency, Regional, or National Level? There is no mention of a local Youth Organizer in the NPP's constitution.

Indeed, if his reference to Kyebi is intended to imply that the alleged wrongdoing is attributable to a certain Constituency Youth Organizer, then the Constituency executives wish to state emphatically that the then Constituency Youth Organizer has never been associated in any way with galamsey operation, rendering this allegation baseless.

In order to set the record straight, the statement noted that the location of the President's Kyebi residence makes it impossible for any illegal mining operation to take place even near to it, unless you are Professor Frimpong Boateng, who apparently does not know the house.

It was emphasized that the President's house is not "obscured as it is closely surrounded by many other houses" and that "suggesting that an illegal mining operation occurred near the walled house to the extent that it affected parts of a fictitious garden in the house leaves much to be desired in terms of the operation's method."

In this regard, the NPP Abuakwa South disclosed that the President does not even have a garden at his Kyebi residence; thus, the Professor's claim that a portion of his garden was destroyed is "a blatant lie."

According to them, the Learned Professor might have been excused if he had simply stated that he received the report through a phone call from Eric Antwi of the President's office.

"But to have continued to say that he personally followed up to witness the alleged incident with his own eyes is simply a massive smear on the integrity of both the Former Minister and his work as Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee," the report emphasized.

The Abuakwa Soth NPP executives urged well-meaning Ghanaians to disregard Professor Frimpong-Boateng's accusations and urged the media to visit the president's residence in Kyebi to verify his claims.