The Volta Regional Secretariat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is calling for the dismissal of Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng and Mr. John Peter Amewu, Ministers for Lands and Natural Resources and Energy and Petroleum respectively over the missing 500 excavators’ saga.

The call comes after Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng publicly announced that some 500 excavators that were seized from some illegal small-scale miners are missing.

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has already arrested six persons in connection with the missing excavators.

The suspects include the suspended Central Regional Vice-Chair of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Horace Ekow Ewusie.

The other five are: Frederick Ewusi, Joel Asamoah, Adam Haruna, Frank Gyan and John Arhin.

Ekow Ewusi, Frederick Ewusi and Joel Asamoah have been cautioned on the offence of stealing whilst Adnan Haruna, Frank Gyan and John Arhin have been cautioned on the offence of abetment of stealing.

But the Volta NDC in a statement does not only want Prof Boateng and Mr Amewu interdicted but also want an urgent retrieval of all seized excavators and same given back to the state as well as proper inventory and accounts of all the confiscated assets of the illegal miners.

Read their full statement below:

THE MISSING 500 GALAMSEY EXCAVATORS SCANDAL

VOLTA NDC DEMANDS INTERDICTION OF PROF.FRIMPONG BOATENG, JOHN PETER AMEWU AND OTHERS

The Volta Regional Secretariat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is alarmed by the magnitude of the miasma of corruption scandals that have engulfed President Akufo Addo's government.

We are saddened by the unfolding drama of thievery surrounding the missing 500 excavators seized during the much trumpeted galamsey Operations dubbed "Operation Vanguard". We demand immediate interdiction of Prof. Frimpong Boateng and Mr. John Peter Amewu, Ministers for Lands and Natural Resources and Energy and Petroleum and others mentioned in this shameful scandal.

The party is also scandalized by the shady circumstances and apparent ‘kleptocracy’ surrounding the sharing of the said seized excavators like confetti. We are further stunned by the unpleasant revelations of alleged complicity in this sordid saga by the loquacious John Peter Amewu, then the Lands and Natural Resources Minister. We are still trying very hard to wrap our heads around the allegation that Mr. John Peter Amewu, alone had twenty (20) pieces of the booty, while the rest was shared among other scavengers of the President’s inner-circle.

This and other equally damming revelations emanating from the galamsey pits are ample testimony that the much-publicised fight against galamsey was merely an expertly-crafted façade. The unfolding episode has all the symptoms of a well-rehearsed scheme of create, loot, and share money-making enterprise by the Akufo-Addo-led NPP government and ably spearheaded by the current Energy and Petroleum Minister, Mr John Peter Amewu.

Suddenly, certain developments have just become self-explanatory to us. We are particularly concerned about the sudden open display of affluence and ostentation by Mr. Amewu, in the Hohoe Constituency, in his parliamentary bid in that Constituency.

Could it be the case that, Mr. Amewu's seemingly endless and bottomless well of obscene wealth that he is flaunting about in Hohoe is being traceable to the muddy and bloody waters of the galamsey pits? Well, in light of prevailing and emerging circumstances, one can only wonder!

What has become crystal clear to the discerning Ghanaians today is that much of the political gymnastics they saw in the news regarding this fight was just a calculated and well-choreographed corrupt agenda to mine money for NPP government officials.

The truth is, the Akufo-Addo-led government has no conscience and sympathy for the environment let alone the dubious pious claims to protect our water bodies and vegetation.

It is no surprise to the Volta NDC that the President himself said he was prepared to put his presidency on the line for this salacious money-making enterprise no matter the cost.

Let the President prove us wrong and also show to the international community represented by the Diplomatic Missions in Ghana that he is above board by cracking the whip.

Ghanaians want to see the evidence of the President’s much-touted commitment to the fight against corruption in his government and the country at large.

The Volta NDC is thus demanding the following:

1. Immediate interdiction of Prof. Frimpong Boateng, Mr. John Peter Amewu and other government officials mentioned in this dastardly organised crime

2. A full scale bi-partisan investigation into the scandal

3. Prosecution of all the culprits to serve as deterrent to other corrupt government appointees

4. Urgent retrieval of all seized excavators and same given back to the state

5. Proper inventory and accounts of all the confiscated assets of the illegal miners

6. Unqualified apology from President Akufo-Addo to Ghanaians, especially to the Security Agencies, the Media and all those whose excavators were in humanely set ablaze and other properties worth millions of dollars that were confiscated.

...Signed...

James GUNU

Regional Secretary