Former Head of Monitoring Unit at the Forestry Commission, Charles Owusu, has denied allegations made by Professor Frimpong-Boateng that he once contacted him to release a seized mining concession.

According to Charles Owusu, he has never been involved in mining and has never spoken to Professor Frimpong-Boateng one-on-one or in a phone interview.

Speaking in a panel discussion on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo programme on April 28, 2023, he expressed his disappointment with the professor and accused him of spreading false information out of bitterness and hatred.

He also accused Professor Frimpong-Boateng of fabricating stories about Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah in his Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) report to the Chief of Staff. “We have so many issues in the country that we are dealing with, then you go and write about me, that you arrested a concession and Charles Owusu called you that it belongs to him so release them, how? So, assuming without admitting, if so, should it end there?

“…he is a father, so I can forgive him, but for me, I see that the report is out of bitterness and hatred, I mean apart from that I don’t see anything different in it....

“But I want to reiterate that, I haven’t done mining before in my life, I haven’t, I don’t have his telephone number, I have never in my life spoken with him one-on-one or on telephone. And I haven’t spoken with anybody to speak to him on my behalf. Never,” he said.

A report authored by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, the former Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) in 2021, was released containing the names of NPP officials who are allegedly hindering the fight against illegal mining.

Some of the known names mentioned in the report include the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, Gabby Otchere-Darko, Lord Commey, Joseph Quarm, and Charles Owusu. While they have denied any wrongdoing, some alleged that Frimpong-Boateng was equally at fault.



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AM/SARA