We go to court with evidence not conjectures – Deputy AG on Frimpong-Boateng’s galamsey report
“Advice has been offered, an opinion has been offered. Anyone who thinks that he has evidence that will also support us to review our opinion, why not? But we will not in any way take a matter to court, where we will be seriously bruised and embarrassed. As prosecutors, you go to court with hard evidence, not with speculations.”
Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, is asking former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, to present evidence to back his claims of illegal mining by members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Professor Frimpong-Boateng, in his galamsey report, accused some NPP bigwigs of employing Chinese nationals to engage in illegal mining on their behalf.
The Attorney General, in an advice dated September 12, 2023, to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service (CID), said the former chairman failed to provide the necessary evidence to back his report for the prosecution of persons indicted.
In a response to the Attorney General, Professor Frimpong-Boateng, in a statement, pointed out that the destruction of the water bodies by alleged criminals will be evident in the future.
The Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, in a response, however, indicated that the author failed to provide evidence to warrant prosecution.
Meanwhile, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, in an interview with Citi News, indicated that the office is open to receiving the necessary evidence.
“Advice has been offered, an opinion has been offered. Anyone who thinks that he has evidence that will also support us to review our opinion, why not? But we will not in any way take a matter to court, where we will be seriously bruised and embarrassed. As prosecutors, you go to court with hard evidence, not with speculations.”
“So you can say Mr. A has stolen. That is the allegation. What has he stolen? Then you come with evidence. Mr. A is engaged in galamsey. That is the allegation. What is the evidence? It’s possible that you may go to a forest and realise that people have engaged in illegal mining, but you may mention my name as the one who did it. That is not enough. You should be able to get evidence to show that yes I was there, and I was the one who engaged people to do that. We do this work based on evidence, not on conjectures,” Alfred Tuah-Yeboah said.
Source: Citinewsroom
