By Nana Yaw Prekoh

Copyright ghanaguardian

A fresh wave of controversy has resurfaced in the fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, following renewed public discussions on the report authored by Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovations, and Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).

The report, which has often been cited by both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for political jabs, makes a striking revelation that appears to have been overshadowed in earlier debates.

According to page 13 of the document, Professor Frimpong-Boateng categorically stated that “the NDC was given an advantage in terms of access to resources from mining. This is because there are far more NDC people engaged in illegal mining than NPP members.”

Background Of The Galamsey Report

Professor Frimpong-Boateng was appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2017 to lead the government’s anti-galamsey fight while acting as Environment Minister.

Under his stewardship, Operation Vanguard, a joint military-police taskforce headed by current Chief of the Defence Staff, then Colonel William Agyapong, was deployed to clamp down on illegal mining activities across the country.

The Operation Vanguard failed because the operatives were allegedly enmeshed in corruption.

Frimpong Boateng’s son Joojo was also accused of engaging in galamsey but the cardio surgeon rebuffed it, claiming that his son was doing legitimate mining.

His report, however, later stirred national controversy, not only for its candid admission that some government officials were sabotaging the fight, but also for its detailed account of the entrenched networks of political, business, and traditional actors benefiting from galamsey.

Critics of the government often highlighted sections of the report where Frimpong-Boateng accused certain individuals within the Jubilee House of interfering in the anti-galamsey campaign.

What has often been ignored, however, is the professor’s strong assertion that members and financiers of the NDC had long-established dominance in illegal mining, especially in mineral-rich constituencies.

NDC’s Alleged Stronghold In Small-Scale Mining

The report highlighted that during the NDC’s long years in power, particularly in the 1990s and 2000s, many of its financiers and sympathisers entrenched themselves in small-scale mining.

Several acquired concessions across the Western Region and used proceeds from mining to fund both NDC parliamentary candidates and, in some instances, independent candidates in NPP-dominated constituencies.

Frimpong-Boateng cited specific examples, noting that in areas like Evalue Gwira and Tarkwa, NDC financiers actively supported independent aspirants to weaken the NPP’s electoral chances.

He also referenced the involvement of a former NDC Deputy Minister, now an MP, who had allegedly been mining in the Subri forest for years.

Operation Vanguard and the Political Undercurrents

Operation Vanguard, which initially combined the efforts of soldiers and police officers, was deployed to restore order in illegal mining communities.

However, in March 2019, soldiers were withdrawn from the operation following complaints from small-scale miners, many of whom were NPP supporters that they were chasing bribes.

This left the police in full control, and according to the report, the situation quickly deteriorated.

Miners accused the police of widespread extortion, while reports also surfaced that some officers with NDC sympathies openly boasted to miners that they had been sent by “the government you voted for,” inflaming political tensions in mining communities.

The Political Narrative and Current Debate

The resurfacing of these aspects of Frimpong-Boateng’s report has sparked a counter-narrative from sections of the NPP, particularly after years of the NDC tagging President Akufo-Addo’s government as “galamsey enablers.”

Dennis Miracles Aboagye, aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has been among those reminding Ghanaians that while the NDC has consistently relied on the report to accuse the Akufo-Addo government of corruption in the galamsey fight, the same document also indicts the NDC for having far deeper involvement in illegal mining.

“Any wonder galamsey has escalated since they assumed office?” Aboagye questioned, referencing the 2024 change of government. He further urged the NDC to clarify whether they still consider Frimpong-Boateng’s report a credible benchmark for assessing political culpability in galamsey.