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Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Chairman of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) could be charged for perjury by the Attorney-General per the latter’s advice given to the government on a report provided by the Professor.
The Asante Akyem North Member of Parliament, Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, who holds this assertion says the Professor could be liable for perjury for peddling falsehood to a state official according to the laws of the land.
Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, a former Minister of Science, Environment, Innovation and Technology, who also chaired the dissolved IMCIM presented a report to the Chief of Staff implicating some stalwarts of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for their involvement in illegal mining otherwise known as ‘galamsey’.
The 21-page report after a thorough scrutiny by the Attorney-General, advised the government to ignore it saying there were no evidence to back those allegations to prosecute anyone listed in the report.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has, based on the A-G’s advice, called on him to resign, describing his response to the Professor’s report as a “cover-up” to shield perpetrators of galamsey who are close to the corridors of power.
Reacting to the issue Saturday, October 21, 2023, on TV3’s The KeyPoints, Asante Akyem North MP, Andy Appiah-Kubi, in his submission indicated that the laws of the land warrants the A-G to charge Prof. Frimpong-Boateng for perjury if he claims his report lacks evidence to substantiate the contents in his report.
“At least there are plaintiffs that could lead to evidence. Our criminal Offences Act has the provision that those who have information or known knowledge of commission of crime are to report them otherwise they themselves could be charged and prosecuted.
“And again if you look at the provision of perjury, if Prof. Frimpong-Boateng is giving information to a public officer to which information he cannot substantiate, meaning that the information is false, meaning that he is also liable for prosecution of perjury so on either way, I’m even sure the Attorney General could even cite Prof. Frimpong-Boateng for perjury,” he stated.
According to the MP, the A-G’s claim that there is no evidence in the report is therefore inadequate.
“If he comes into the box and he can’t prove it, then the consequential sentences could also be placed on him. So it’s inadequate for A-G to tell us that ‘I don’t have evidence’ when clearly this (videos) is part of the evidence that should be invoked in the prosecution of people –that we see in pictures and videos –so you cannot tell us that there has not been any commission of crime. It is not enough for AG to tell us there is no evidence where presumably evidence abound,” he was emphatic.
READ ALSO: [FULL TEXT] A-G’s advice on Frimpong-Boateng’s ‘galamsey’ report a cover-up – NDC
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