Private legal practitioner Justice Abdulai believes the arrest of the former chairman of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), is a calculated attempt to silence him.
Abdulai, like other stakeholders, believes the arrest of a former minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation raises suspicion and could be a move by the government to cover up illegality in galamsey-related activities.
Professor Frimpong-Boateng was arrested by the OSP last month to answer questions about suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of the activities and expenditure of the dissolved IMCIM, which he chaired.
Speaking on the Big Issue on Citi TV, the private legal practitioner, indicated that, “How do those cases mentioned in the report by the Professor get shrouded in secrecy and treated as though they do not even exist? It then creates suspicion and indeed mischief in the minds of people and every watcher that the arrest of the Professor is a clear attempt to simply gag him sort of or cover up some of these matters on illegal mining.
“But I do not think that if you are transparent, honest and indeed committed to fighting corruption and ensuring accountability within our public sector system, this will be the right way to go”.
Abdulai questioned why Professor Frimpong-Boateng should have been arrested instead of being invited to the OSP to answer questions.
“The Professor may indeed be the head of IMCIM, he may have more answers, but couldn’t we have achieved the same objective by inviting him, rather than arresting him? Because the man has already shown that he’s committed to giving out information, he’s not afraid of giving more information. You could have divulged more information from him that could have aided the fight against galamsey and corruption,” Justice Abdulai asserted.