SPecIal IntervIew

Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng speaks

Impunity rules
in Ghana
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng:
“A nation without integrity is a
serious matter, and Ghanaians
should really ponder over it.”
Special interview prof. frimpong-Boateng

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng: “I have

never regretted coming home to
help my people. But sometimes
when people who have done
nothing in their lives – other than
stealing from the nation and living
fat on the misery of the people – try
to destroy your good works just
to satisfy their selfish interest, it
irritates me. ... To whom much is
given, much is required. So as long
as God gives me breath, I will
continue to help Ghanaians in
whatever way possible.”

46 october/november 2023 l africawatch

 tHe
trIBulatIOnS
OF tHe
‘BlacK Pearl’
Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng was
the first Black doctor to perform a heart
transplant, in 1985 in Germany. Nicknamed
the “Black Pearl,” he returned home to set
up the National Cardiothoracic Centre at the
Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, and
later joined Ghana’s political fray on the
side of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
When President Nana Akufo-Addo took
office in January 2017, he appointed Prof.
Frimpong-Boateng as the minister of
environment, science, technology, and
innovation.
President Akufo-Addo pledged to wipe out
“galamsey,” illegal small-scale gold mining,
and named Prof. Frimpong-Boateng as the
chair of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on
Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
“We realized that those causing the most
havoc were the big-time miners with huge
concessions who were supposed to be doing
deep mining, but were rather using small-
scale technology and dangerous chemicals,”
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng told Africawatch.
“Some of the people behind this environ-
mental destruction were top government
officials, with some even at the presidency,
and party bigwigs.” He says he informed
Akufo-Addo about this, but nothing
happened. Instead, the president dissolved
the IMCIM after he started his second term
in January 2021, and dropped Prof.
Frimpong-Boateng from his government.
A few weeks later, however, Akufo-Addo’s
chief of staff asked Prof. Frimpong-Boateng
to write a report on the IMCIM’s activities
and the galamsey situation for the
presidency. “I didn’t want to write any wishy-
washy report so I was brutally honest with
the president,” he told Africawatch. The
report was presented to the chief of staff
in March 2021 but Akufo-Addo “took no
action” on it, he said. But after the professor
told the state broadcaster, GBC, last March
that top government and NPP officials were
neck-deep in galamsey, the president asked
the police to investigate his claims. Shortly
afterwards, he was arrested by the special
prosecutor on suspicion of misappropriating
IMCIM funds and equipment seized from
illegal miners. He says his arrest is just a
“smokescreen.”
“The Akufo-Addo who is ruling Ghana today
is not the same man that we campaigned
for to win the 2016 presidential election,”
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng told Africawatch.
“That is why things are falling apart, and the
fight against galamsey is going nowhere.”
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, currently out on
bail pending further investigations, spoke
with Africawatch editor Steve Mallory in
Accra in July. Here is the full interview.
africawatch l october/november 2023 47
Special interview prof. frimpong-Boateng

Q: Professor, thank you for taking Frimpong, as you said.

the time to talk to us. How did you get
the moniker “Black Pearl”?
A: When I became the first Black man in
the world to successfully perform a heart
transplantation, in Hanover on October 17,
1985, the German and the international
press went into a frenzy, and they dubbed
me the “Black Pearl.” Actually, before
that I had been involved in several heart-
transplant operations as a member of a
team, assisting other surgeons, but October
17, 1985 was the day I led a team to do such
a surgery on my own without any external
instructions or guidance. I remember that
day as if it was yesterday. The patient was
a German lady, and she was a teacher at
the time. The surgery was flawless, and
was historic, for it was the first time a
Black man had achieved such a great feat.
My mother and I never talked about it
until I was about 50 years old, when she
decided to open up and give me the details.
She told me my father was just about 24
years old. A very enterprising young man.
He had a store in Nkawie and a farm in
Tano Odumasi. He also owned a bicycle,
which was a big deal at the time. He
was traveling to Kumasi and he had an ac-
cident on the way, close to Nyinahin. He
was sent to the government hospital in
Bibiani, where he died from chest injury the
following day.
My mother was very young at the time,
so I lived with my grandmother all the time
throughout primary school. She married
again and had other children, but I was the
only child of the two of them. She passed
away about 10 years ago.

Q: That was certainly a momentous Q: Tell us a bit about your nuclear

occasion.
A: Oh yeah, it was amazing. It proved
once again that the Black person is capable
of doing anything. It’s all about us
being disciplined and hardworking and
having adequate resources and the right
equipment to do our jobs.
Q: Let’s talk about your childhood.
When and where were you born in
Ghana?
A: I was born in a village called
Gyankobaa, in the Atwima Nwabiagya area
of the Ashanti Region. Actually, it is the
ginger capital of Ghana, that is where we
grow a lot of the country’s ginger. I was
born on October 4, 1949, and my uncle
wrote my date of birth with a charcoal on a
wall, that’s why I got to know.
Q: Your father, Kofi Frimpong, was
involved in a road accident and died
before you were born. Can you tell us
about this tragedy?
A: I was born four months after my
father’s death, so I have no memory of him
at all. My family hardly talked about this
tragedy. I guess it was so traumatic for
them. I got to know about it when I was
9 years old. All this while, I was made to
believe that my father was living in
Nkawie, a commercial town in our area,
where most men in my village had gone to
work. But one day I was with my aunt, my
father’s sister, and we were walking around
and someone asked her, is this your child,
and she said no, it’s Koo Manu’s child,
my brother, who died in an accident. Then
I got to know. His main name was Kofi
family and how they have been
supportive in your professional and
political career.
A: I have a wonderful family, my wife
Agnes and five children; all are adults now,
and some of them too are medical doctors.
We have gone through a lot hustling
together, so they know how to take pressure
and face challenges and difficulties,
especially my dear wife, because it wasn’t
easy leaving Ghana to settle in Germany
and going through the training as a heart
surgeon, becoming a heart-transplant
surgeon, coming back to Ghana to set up
the National Cardiothoracic Centre at
the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, and then
joining the political fray in the country. We
have faced a lot of obstacles along the way,
and we have learned to take things in our
strides. Our strong faith in God keeps us
going. And I am grateful to them for always
being there for me.
Q: Let’s talk about your school days
at Sekondi College and the University
of Ghana Medical School. What kind of
student were you?
A: Let me tell you a story before I go
there. When I finished my primary school
in Gyankobaa, my aunt brought me to
Accra to start middle school, Bishop Boys
School in Bubiashie. I sat for the Common
Entrance Examination in Form 2 and I
passed. I was supposed to go to Adisadel
College in 1962. My family was very poor
and could not afford to pay the fees. As hard
as they tried, they could not get anybody to
sponsor me, so I was sent back to Nkawie
to complete Form 4.
I sat for the Common Entrance Examina-
tion again in Form 4 at Nkawie and passed.
Unfortunately for me, those days, if you
go all the way to Form 4 and sit for the
Common Entrance Examination, you don’t
get to be selected for the top schools, such
as Adisadel, Prempeh, Achimota, and
others. So I settled on an educational trust
institution. That is why I went to Sekondi
College. But it was like providence, and
indeed, God works in mysterious ways. I got
to Sekondi College in 1964, and I did so well
in Form 1 that I was promoted to Form 3
the following year.
Q: So, you skipped Form 2 and did
your General Certificate of Education
(GCE) ordinary level in four years?
A: Yes, and not only that. At the time,
our leader, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, had
established a program called pre-science.
Those who did very well in Form 5 could go
straight to university, bypassing the 2-year
GCE advanced level, to one-year pre-
science and onto their course. I did so well
and also skipped sixth form, and went
to the University of Ghana, Legon, to do

48 october/november 2023 l africawatch


pre-science one year. After that, I started
my tertiary education.
Actually, I wanted to do physics and
mathematics at the university. But there
was one mathematics lecturer, Dr. Boateng,
and he was so broke. He lived a miserable
life on campus and was always pushing his
broken-down car. So, I said to myself, I
don’t want to become like this man. Luckily
for me, around that time, I had a call from
the University of Ghana Medical School
that I could do medicine. So, I left physics
and mathematics, then went to the Medical
School.
At school, I was the bookworm type. As I
told you, I was from that small village
called Gyankobaa, and now gotten such an
opportunity to make something of my life, I
didn’t want to take any chances, so I was
dedicated to my books and studied very
hard. It was all books, books, books!
And it paid off. At the end of my medical
course, I was adjudged the best student in
my class, and I won the top prize in surgery.
Q: When and how did you get to
Germany to do further studies, to
become a cardiothoracic surgeon?
A: Again, I have to tell you a story. After
medical school, I did a one-year internship
at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra,
and I went to Kumasi to do another one
year at the Okomfo Anokye Teaching
Hospital. It was around the time that the
then head of state, Gen. Ignatius Kutu
Acheampong, started his “Union Govern-
ment” (UNIGOV) campaign, trying to
establish a one-party state in Ghana. Many
people were opposed to that idea, and it led
to several massive protests in the country.
Some people even lost their lives during the
protests in Kumasi. I was against unigov,
so I supported the opposition activities
organized under the auspices of the Ghana
Medical Association.
Indeed, during the largest demonstration
against unigov organized by the People’s
Movement for Freedom and Justice in
Kumasi, K.A. Gbedemah, one of the leading
opposition leaders, got injured, and I was
among the doctors who treated him.
Interestingly, Gen. Acheampong and I
come from the same area. Our villages are
just a few kilometers apart. He was from
africawatch l october/november 2023
“I got involved in politics because I thought
I could help establish a credible program
based on science and technology to transform
the nation. We need to use science and
technology to boost industrialization for
sustainable development for the nation and
the people. ... Science and technology are
very crucial to our development, and I felt I
could chip in. But it seems Ghanaians don’t
want to hear anything about that.”
Trabuom, but he grew up in Hwidiem. His
eldest sister, Maame Pokua, was married to
my uncle, so our families were very close.
When Gen. Acheampong’s father, Opanyin
Tutu, heard that I was opposed to unigov,
he got so upset and sent for me. He
lambasted me in front of the elders in
Hwidiem, telling me that one must always
protect and defend his own in public. I
remember Opanyin Tutu telling me: “Let
outsiders make their noise, not you. He took
power by the gun, and if there is any brave
man out there, he should go and face
him and let’s see.” He asked me to go
and explain my actions myself to Gen.
Acheampong.
Q: So, what happened?
A: I wrote a letter and gave it to Mr.
Otaa, Gen. Acheampong’s younger brother
who was at the meeting and he delivered
it to Gen. Acheampong at the Osu Castle,
then the seat of government. Three
days later, I got a telegram that I should
come and meet Gen. Acheampong in the
Osu Castle. I drove there alone, and my
mother was so scared that some terrible
thing might happen to me, because Gen.
Acheampong was a law unto himself and
his military junta was ruthless. That was
the first time I met Gen. Acheampong one
on one and he was so calm and appeared to
be a nice man. He told me that he knew I
would not be attacking him in the media on
my own, and that he believed that there
were some people pushing me to write those
critical articles against his government.
He reminded me of the ties between our
families and asked me to stop my opposition
activities.
When I got back to Kumasi, I was a bit
confused about the politics. The rising cost
of living was also making life tough for me
as a young doctor on a meagre monthly
salary of about 220 cedis. Meanwhile, Gen.
Acheampong’s people in Hwidiem were
insulting my Gyankobaa people over my
opposition to the military junta, and
tension was building up in the area.
49
Special interview prof. frimpong-Boateng
Pioneers in the heart-transplant program at Hannover Medical School in Hanover, Germany: From left, Professors Thorsten Wahlers, Axel
Haverich, Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Hans-Georg Borst, and Hans-Joachim Schaefers. “Sometime in 1983, we did our first case on a human
being,” Prof. Frimpong-Boateng recounts. “I worked with the Germans on equal terms, and later headed the team to perform my first transplant
in October 1985. The rest is now history”
Because of me, the government did not
provide electricity and water at Gyankobaa
for many years.
So, I said well, l better leave the country.
That is why I decided to go to Germany. I
wrote several applications. One of them
landed at the Hannover Medical Univer-
sity, and they responded and took me in. l
left Ghana in April 1978 to study the
German language for six months, and then
in November 1978, I started my post-
graduate studies to become a cardiothoracic
surgeon.
Q: How did you become one of the
pioneers of the heart transplantation
program in Hanover?
A: I am most grateful to the former head
of thorax and cardiovascular surgery at
Hannover Medical School, Prof. Hans-
Georg Borst. He died last year at the age of
94. He put me on the heart transplantation
program in Hannover and mentored and
guided me every step of the way. The core
50 october/november 2023 l africawatch
members of the Hannover team were four,
me, Prof. Hans-Joachim Schaefers, Prof.
Axel Haverich, and Prof. Thorsten Wahlers.
Prof. Haverich had been recalled from
Stanford University in California to be the
head of the transplant program. We started
the research together, and we were testing
it on dogs. Sometime in 1983, we did our
first case on a human being. I worked with
the Germans on equal terms, and later
headed the team to perform my first trans-
plant in October 1985. The rest is now
history!
Q: This is quite an amazing piece of
your life story. You were having a
great time in Germany. Why did you
decide to return home to Ghana?
A: Life is not all about fame and money,
but more importantly, what one can do to
help others. The first heart surgeries in
Ghana were performed by Prof. Charles
Easmon in 1964. He was the first dean of
the University of Ghana Medical School,
and also the head of the Korle Bu Hospital
at the time. He did two cases on two kids
who had holes in their hearts, using a very
primitive method called surface cooling.
You put the patient to sleep and then
place the patient in a bath with ice, and let
the temperature sink so low. When the
heart stops, you quickly put the patient
on the table, and you would have a few
minutes to do whatever you want to do. One
of the kids survived and the other died, and
Prof. Easmon was so much criticized that
he truncated the heart-surgery program.
Then the 1966 coup d’état overthrew Dr.
Nkrumah’s government, and Prof. Easmon
left the country. I wanted to come home and
continue from where Prof. Easmon left off.
I came back to Ghana in 1989 to set up a
National Cardiothoracic Centre at the
Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
More so, when I was an intern at Korle
Bu, there was a little sweet girl called
Theresa who had a hole in her heart, and
we could not help her because we didn’t
have the expertise to operate on her. People
were looking for money to take her abroad
for surgery, but the money did not come,
and she died. It broke my heart. From what
I know now from Germany, I could have
easily saved her life.
And guess what? It was a good idea that
I returned home. When I came back, my
mother had an aneurysm of the abdominal
aorta. There was this big blood vessel in her
abdomen, ballooned out. If you do not do
anything, it will burst and she will die. At
that time, I was the only surgeon in the
country who could do such an operation. So,
I operated on my own mother and saved
her. You see, God works in mysterious
ways.

Q: How did you set up the National

Cardiothoracic Centre at the Korle-
Bu Teaching Hospital? Did the govern-
ment support you?
A: The initial resistance to my proposal
to set up the Cardio Center was formidable,
but against all odds, the National Cardio-
thoracic Centre was born in 1989. The
official commissioning was done on April 2,
1992, by the then head of state, Chairman
Jerry John Rawlings. Gradually, it has
become the best heart center in West
Africa.
I have a lot of respect for Chairman
Rawlings, because the first time I saw him
was when he came to Korle Bu that day to
commission the new National Cardiotho-
racic Centre. I became more than convinced
that his support was not based on political
expediency, but that he believed in the
project, and that really encouraged me. His
then Provisional National Defense Council
government secured a supplier’s credit
from the German government for the
Center’s core equipment to be purchased.
The government, however, did not provide
any suitable accommodation for the equip-
ment, so I took it upon myself to initiate
and construct a modest block for the
Center.
Because of the limited availability of
hospital architects in Ghana, I personally
sketched the distribution of spaces within
the block and gave the sketches to Engineer
Donald Boateng Danquah of MacDons
Ltd. who provided all the structural and
architectural drawings and helped with the
supervision of the construction, without
charging any fees whatsoever. One Kwame
Antwi Boasiako, a draftsman/construction
foreman, also provided invaluable assis-
tance. Another person, Akwasi Nti Addai,
an electrician, offered his services free of
charge.
I had to gather a group of artisans to do
the actual construction work, because we
The National Cardiothoracic Centre at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra was built through
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s untiring efforts. He contributed GH¢5 million to get the project
started. “Life is not all about fame and money, but more importantly, what one can do to help
others,” he says.
Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng at the
commissioning of the National Cardiothoracic
Center in Accra on April 2, 1992. He says there
was formidable initial resistance to his
proposal to establish it, but with the support
of the then head of state, Flight Lt. Jerry
Rawlings, the Cardio Center was born in 1989.
did not have the money to hire a contractor.
I managed to gather a group of artisans,
mainly from Mamprobi, Korle Gonno,
and Chorkor, who were supervised by a
team including Engineer Danquah, Antwi
Boasisko, and my humble myself.
The whole project took off with my
personal contribution of GH¢5 million.
Subsequently, several individuals and insti-
tutions donated cash and in kind towards
the project, and the construction was com-
pleted in two years. The biggest donation
came from R.G. Patel who organized the
Indian community in Ghana to give us
US$120,000. Patel had had heart surgery
in the U.K., but his condition worsened, so
he returned to Ghana and sought relief
at the newly established Cardiothoracic
Center. He improved dramatically, and
the donation from his friends was the
expression of their thanks and gratefulness.
I was also privileged to provide care
to President Rawlings and Dr. Ephraim
Amu, amongst many leading Ghanaian
personalities.
As the only heart surgeon at the time,
I had to prepare for the day when I would
retire from Korle Bu. So right from 1992, I
drew up a structured program to train per-
sonnel to man the Cardio Center. Several
highly talented, and competent surgeons,

africawatch l october/november 2023 51

Special interview prof. frimpong-Boateng
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo. Prof. Frimpong-Boateng says: “The president is a different person now. That is why things are falling apart ...
What has caused the man to change? I don’t know.”
cardiac anesthetists, peri-operative and
intensive-care nurses, and perfusionists
(technologists who operate the heart-lung-
machine) were trained. And today, it is so
fulfilling to see the Cardio Center run so
successfully on its own.
Q: Professor, you have had an illus-
trious professional career. You have
been the chief executive of the Korle
Bu Teaching Hospital and a professor
at the University of Ghana Medical
School. You established the Ghana
Heart Foundation, and from 2005 to
2007, you served as president of the
Red Cross in Ghana. You were also
elected to the Ghana Academy of Arts
and Sciences. So, what drove you into
the rough and tumble of Ghanaian
politics?
A: I got involved in politics because I
thought I could help establish a credible
program based on science and technology
to transform the nation. We need to use
science and technology to boost industria-
lization for sustainable development for the
nation and the people. It doesn’t make any
52 october/november 2023 l africawatch
sense for our nation to continue to import
everything from toothpicks to toilet paper.
And no nation can develop without the
capacity of machines that would help it in
agriculture, industry, and so on. Science
and technology are very crucial to our
development, and I felt I could chip in. But
it seems Ghanaians don’t want to hear
anything about that.
Q: When your party, the ruling New
Patriotic Party, came into power in
2017, President Nana Akufo-Addo
appointed you as the minister for
environment, science, technology, and
innovation. Was it the position you
were expecting, or did it come as a
surprise?
A: During the campaign, there were
several committees on various issues, and I
chaired the one on science and technology,
because of the things I was talking about
that you can use science to transform the
nation. So yes, I really wanted to be the
minister for environment, science, techno-
logy, and innovation, and I wasn’t surprised
that the president offered it to me.
I believe the poverty gap is a science and
technology gap. Once we bridge this gap,
there is no way that we can’t get out of the
cycle of poverty we find ourselves in. Some
party people thought I should have been
given the health portfolio, but I didn’t like
it at all. I knew too much about the
shenanigans at that ministry, and I did not
want to go there and knock heads with
anybody.
Q: What were some of your main
accomplishments at the Ministry of
Environment, Science, Technology,
and Innovation?
A: As you may be aware, the budget of
the Ministry of Environment, Science,
Technology, and Innovation is very small,
and there isn’t enough money to do any-
thing meaningful. That’s why people don’t
like that portfolio. Nevertheless, I used
my foreign connections, particularly my
contacts in Germany, to get some things
done. For instance, the German govern-
ment helped us build a waste-to-energy
plant in the Ashanti Region. Recently, I
went to the place to see how the plant was
doing, and unfortunately, it appeared it has
been abandoned by the government.
I established the Ghana Innovations
Research and Commercialization Center
because the trend in Ghana is for our
universities to do research, and everything
is left on the shelves to rot. I got a team to
go around the universities and did a list of
things that they had done, in terms of
proper research, that could be of commer-
cial value, and I got South Africa to give us
a super-computer to enable us to process
big data and build prototypes from research
output. Everything had been almost set,
and I was kicked out as minister, and
everything is now at a standstill.
I also started building a machine-tooling
and foundry center at the premises of
the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission,
because we cannot get anywhere when we
don’t have the capacity to manufacture
anything, including machine parts and
machinery for agriculture, the automobile
industry, medical equipment, and road
construction. I even imported first-batch
CNC [computer numerical control] equip-
ment, which is now roasting in a warehouse
at the Atomic Energy Commission. The
place is now full of weeds.
But I was able to complete the long-
delayed conversion of a communication
satellite at Kuntunse, on the Accra-
Nsawam Road, into a radio telescope. South While in office as minister for environment, science, technology, and innovation, Prof.
Africa provided the funds, about US$4 Frimpong-Boateng started building a foundry and machine-tooling center in Accra because
million, for the engineering works. And we he believed that “we cannot get anywhere when we don’t have the capacity to manufacture
established the Ghana Radio Astronomy anything.” The center was almost completed when he was dropped from the cabinet. The
Observatory. Our telescope is now success- site (above) is now full of weeds.
fully participating in research involving
radio telescopes worldwide.
Most Ghanaians have forgotten the de- and northern Ghana, and one between tackle the small-scale miners, because
vastating effects of flooding in the northern Ghana and Fôret de la Fosse aux Lions people thought they were causing the most
parts when the almost yearly ritual of National Park in Togo. Because of loss damage to our environment.
Burkina Faso opening the spillways of its of habitat, food, and water resources, the The committee was made up of ministers
Bagre Dam occurred. On my many field animals were avoiding their yearly migra- from 10 ministries, backed by the Minister
trips to the north, I took time to study the tion to Ghana. Working closely with the for National Security, the national security
flooding, and I realized that it was not local populations, we preserved habitats, advisor, and the president’s chief of staff.
so much caused by the absolute volume dug out water reservoirs, and reduced We were to strengthen the existing
of water from the dam, but rather from human-animal conflict. These measures agencies – Minerals Commission, Environ-
siltation of the major tributaries of the have led to healthy migration of elephants mental Protection Agency (EPA), Water
White and Red Volta rivers. They could to protected areas in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Resources Commission, and the Forestry
not take any volume of water. We sent and Togo. Commission – and ensure that they enforce
bulldozers and excavators to the north, and In 2017, I was made the chairman of the existing mining laws. We were also to
within weeks, desilted the Kulpaun and the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal verify and certify the small-scale miners,
Nabogo rivers. That has drastically reduced Mining (IMCIM). It was set up to fight and also regularize them.
flooding from the Bagre Dam, against the illegal small-scale gold mining, We got the list of all the small-scale
I continued to support and enhance popularly known as galamsey in local miners in the country from the Minerals
work that has been going on in northern Ghanaian parlance, that is causing so much Commission. There were thousands of
Ghana since 2002 by the Environmental destruction to Ghana’s lands, forests, and them. They had an association, so we met
Protection Agency and the Forestry Com- water resources. their executives and asked them what their
mission of Ghana’s Forest Services Division problems were. And they said look, when
and Wildlife Division. The Northern Q: Tell us about the Inter-Ministerial you apply for a mining license, you start
Savanna Biodiversity Conservation Project Committee on Illegal Mining that has from the Minerals Commission, sometimes
identified two main elephant migratory generated so much controversy. it will be years and you will still not get it,
routes, one between southern Burkina Faso A: Basically, the committee was set up to so they would just go on and do their own

africawatch l october/november 2023 53

Special interview prof. frimpong-Boateng
thing in the forest.
We developed a software called Galam-
STOP, where when one starts the license
registration at the Minerals Commission, it
will trigger the process at the EPA, Water
Resources Commission, and Forestry Com-
mission. So even before the person gets
there, they would have worked on it to a
certain point, so that within three months
one should get the license. But the agencies,
particularly the Minerals Commission and
the Forestry Commission, resisted it. They
didn’t like it a bit, because their officials
were intentionally delaying the process to
take kickbacks and bribes from the small-
scale miners. Eventually the Minerals
Commission signed on to it, but the
Forestry Commission never did.
We also realized that small-scale miners
didn’t know how to mine properly, so we
talked to the University of Mining Studies
at Tarkwa, and they drew up a program for
a few weeks for them. About 4,000 small-
scale miners were sent to the university to
learn sustainable mining.
We even helped them with the registra-
tion of their companies. At the end of it all,
we certified them, and gave them barcodes
which they could post on the wall at the
entrance to their mining sites, so that when
one goes there with a phone, you can scan
it and know all the details about that
particular small-scale miner.
Things were going really well. Our
job was almost done and then bang! We
realized that those causing the most havoc
to our lands, forest reserves, and water
bodies were not really the small-scale
miners, but the big-time miners with huge
concessions who were supposed to be doing
deep mining but were rather using small-
scale technology and dangerous chemicals.
They were causing most of the water
pollution and land degradation.
Some of them even had just a prospecting
license, but were doing extraction, destroy-
ing our forest reserves, diverting tailings
into our water bodies, and engaging
foreigners, mostly Chinese, in their small-
scale mining activities, against the law.
Unbeknownst to us, some of the people
behind this environmental destruction were
top government officials, with some even at
the presidency, and party bigwigs. When
we decided to go after them, all hell broke
loose. That’s when our problems began.
Q: You mean you had problems
trying to fight galamsey, a national
cause?
A: Yes, yes! One of the worst offenders
was Heritage Imperial Mining Co. Ltd,
formerly known as C&G Aleska, run by one
Donald Entsuah. This company flouted the
54 october/november 2023 l africawatch
mining laws and regulations with such
daring impunity and the destruction that it
has caused to farmlands, forests, and water
bodies in the Manso area in the Ashanti
Region is enormous. Even soldiers from
the Ghana Armed Forces were protecting
Heritage Imperial’s illegal operations. The
IMCIM Task Force team raided their site
and attempted to stop them.
There were several such companies who
were not small-scale miners. Several of
them did not have the requisite permits,
but they had links to high-profile persona-
lities and were using their connections with
them to carry out illegal mining operations,
using small-scale technology and dangerous
chemicals, and regular soldiers to provide
security for them.
That was really the problem. Our Task
Force team took them on in the forests,
arrested their Chinese officials, and seized
their equipment, including excavators, and
destroyed some of their sites.
Q: What did your committee do with
the Chinese and other foreigners
arrested by the Task Force?
A: Initially, we were deporting the
Chinese that our Task Force arrested at the
illegal mining sites, but most of them
bought their way back into the country.
Cabinet took the decision that we should
not deport them anymore, rather we should
detain them and have them face the courts
in Ghana. But then when the Chinese are
taken to court here, they are usually
granted bail, and they go back to doing
their illegal mining. It was so complicated.
Q: Tell us more of some of the
problems the committee encountered.
A: As we intensified the crackdown on
illegal mining, some people in government
and the ruling party, with interests in the
illegal mining, ganged up against our com-
mittee. They really schemed against us,
and as things heated up, some of the mem-
bers of the committee stopped attending
meetings, and others were very infrequent.
The committee met at least twice a month, A forest devastated by Heritage Imperial
and decisions were by consensus. I guess Mining Co. Ltd, which Prof. Frimpong-Boateng
there were only four people who were says is being protected by the Akufo-Addo
regular at our meetings. government. One of the president’s cousins,
About the same time, Hon. John Peter representing the Heritage Imperial Mining
Amewu, the minster for lands and natural Co., falsely claimed that it had a valid mining
resources, who was very supportive of the license, he says.
committee, was replaced by Hon. Kweku
Asumah-Kyeremeh. The new minister was
so cold to us. He disagreed with almost
every decision that we took and everything
that we were doing. I smelled something
fishy. And that was the beginning of the
end of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on
Illegal Mining.

Q: Did you report the difficulties to
the president?
A: At least on four or five occasions, I
made presentations at cabinet meetings,
and I did a presentation one time at a
cabinet retreat in Peduase and another one
in Aburi. I also briefed the Council of State.
But there were a few occasions when I
went to the president directly to inform him
about some of the unpleasant happenings.
For instance, I reported his cousin Gabby
Otchere Darko to him for insisting that
his client, Heritage Imperial Mining
Co. Ltd, had a valid mining license and all
necessary permits, when we all knew that
the company didn’t have any document
permitting it to undertake active mining,
notwithstanding the environmental degra-
dation it was causing.
I also reported the late Kwadwo Owusu
Afriyie, alias Sir John, who was the head of
the Forestry Commission to the president
for granting 47 forestry entry permits to
mining companies for prospecting activities
within forest reserves, despite a total ban
on such activities, and that Sir John even
had a group of Chinese mining for him. The
president told me: “Professor, leave it with
me, I will deal with them.” But nothing
happened.
africawatch l october/november 2023
Q: Why was the IMCIM dissolved?
A: The Inter-Ministerial Committee on
Illegal Mining was dissolved in the second
term of the president. I was not part of that
administration, so I don’t know why he
dissolved it. But from my point of view, the
committee was very efficient and was doing
a great job for the nation. It just happened
that we stepped on the feet of a lot of
people, especially those who had large-scale
mining concessions but were using small-
scale technology to wreak so much environ-
mental havoc. They were powerful people,
influential people in the government and
the party, and so, somehow, I wasn’t
surprised that the president stopped the
committee in its tracks.
Q: In March 2021, you made a blunt
assessment of the galamsey situation
in a report that implicated some top
government and party officials to the
president’s chief of staff, Akosua
Frema Osei-Opare. It got leaked to the
media, and the damning revelations
have shocked the nation and the inter-
national community. Can you talk
about it?
A: Yes, I received a letter from the chief
of staff that I should write a report on the
work of the committee and suggest a way
forward for the president in his fight
against illegal mining. I wrote the report in
response to that letter from the chief of
staff. The report was not meant for public
consumption, it was meant for the presi-
dency.
I was expecting that at some point maybe
I would be called for a meeting with
the people that I mentioned in the report to
be involved in illegal mining, so that we
could discuss it face-to-face, but it never
happened.
I didn’t want to write any wishy-washy
report, so I was brutally honest with the
president, but he took no action on the
report for two years.
In March this year, I granted an inter-
view to the state broadcaster, GBC, and
revealed that top government and party
officials were neck-deep in galamsey.
Immediately the president asked the police
to investigate my claims. Isn’t it quite inter-
esting?
Q: The presidency issued a state-
ment describing your galamsey report
as “unfounded and hearsay.” How do
you respond?
A: The report was genuine. I stand by
what I wrote. If need be, I can expand it and
disclose even more shocking things. The
report was just the tip of the iceberg, I can
tell you.
55
Special interview prof. frimpong-Boateng
Galamsey miners at work. “Some of the people behind this environmental destruction were top government officials, with some even at the
presidency, and party bigwigs,” Prof. Frimpong-Boateng says. “When we decided to go after them, all hell broke loose.”
Q: Some of your party people alleged
you and your wife had a company,
Symphony Limited, that was also
involved in galamsey. What do you
have to say about that?
A: Yes, my wife and I had an interest in
Symphony Limited, which was established
in 1990 as a general trading company, but
the allegations that the company was
engaged in galamsey were absolutely
untrue. One Arnold Agbodo reported
conflict of interest allegations against me to
the Commission for Human Rights and
Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), and for
four years (from February 2019 to March
2023), it investigated those allegations and
wrote a 117-page report exonerating me
and my wife. CHRAJ’s report is a public
document that people can assess and read
for themselves.
CHRAJ was very clear that I did not
put myself in any conflict-of-interest posi-
tion when I headed the Inter-Ministerial
Committee on Illegal Mining, and that the
56 october/november 2023 l africawatch
Task Force did not go to Symphony Limited
sites simply because there was no mining
activity being undertaken at its two con-
cessions in Baabiareneha and Adomesu.
Take note that Symphony Limited
obtained those two concessions before the
NPP came into power in 2017. The report
stated that I did not engage in any act of
corruption or abuse of power. It was all part
of an orchestrated campaign by some of the
galamsey people in the government and
party to smear my reputation, just a matter
of giving a dog a bad name and hanging it.
Q: The coincidence of the timing of
the leak of your report and Special
Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng inviting
you to report to his office for question-
ing and subsequent arrest has raised a
lot of eyebrows, considering that the
special prosecutor is a close friend
to some of the personalities you
mentioned in the report as involved in
the galamsey business. How difficult
was the situation when the special
prosecutor placed you under arrest?
A: I don’t think the special prosecutor is
targeting me because of the report per se,
but at the same time, I will be naive to
think that it has nothing to do with a court
case that Gabby Otchere Darko has with
me.
Well, let me tell you exactly what hap-
pened. I received a letter from the special
prosecutor that I should appear before him
because they were conducting an investiga-
tion into corruption and corruption-related
activities of the Inter-Ministerial Commit-
tee on Illegal Mining. I went to his office. I
was given a seat, and as soon as I sat down,
an officer came to me, put his left hand on
my right shoulder and said you are under
arrest. I was surprised. They had not said
anything to me, and they had not asked me
any questions.
My lawyer asked them why they had put
me under arrest, and what were the specific
charges. They said “no, no, we don’t have
any specific charges, but we are investigat-
ing corruption and corruption-related
activities of the committee,” and that I
would need somebody to bail me. Right
there, I suspected that they were trying to
humiliate or intimidate me. I kept my cool.
You know, I am not the type of an aggres-
sive person, but you can’t take me for
granted. A friend of mine was waiting for
me in the lobby, so I told him to stand by.
Then they asked me a series of questions
related to the committee, and at the end of
the interrogation, they asked me to write a
statement which I did, a very short one.
Then my friend was called up, he signed the
bail forms, and I was allowed to go home.
They took my friend to his house to
see where he was living so that in case I
defaulted, they would be able to find him. I
have never ever had any brush with the law
and have so much at stake in the country.
So why would I flee, and for what? I am not
a flight risk, but the special prosecutor
would not give me a self-recognized bail. I
found his actions very ridiculous.
The special prosecutor said in a recent
media interview that I got arrested in his
office after they interrogated me and that
the arrest was based on the answers I gave.
It’s completely untrue. I was arrested
before a single question was posed to me.

Q: Has the special prosecutor inves-

tigated any of the government or party
officials you mentioned in your report
to be involved galamsey?
A: Not that I know of. Some of them have
been bold enough to even file defamation
suits against me. And to the best of my
knowledge, none of the other ministers who
served on the IMCIM with me has been
questioned. Can you imagine that!
Q: But you wrote the report for the
presidency and not for the public, so
how could it be used against you in
court. Are you not covered by execu-
tive privilege?
A: I don’t know much about these legali-
ties, so I leave that to my lawyers. What I
can say is that the Ghanaian electorate is
watching us, I mean my party people. Look,
just in 2016 during the election campaign,
we were so broke that we went around
with cap in hand begging for money for the
campaign. Today some of us are so rich that
they can afford to spend money on cases in
court and on frivolous things. The day of
reckoning shall come.
Q: At the moment you are out on
GH¢2 million bail, and it is reported
that the special prosecutor is investi-
gating you about some missing excava-
Gabby Otchere Darko, a cousin of President Akufo-Addo (left) and Special Prosecutor Kissi
Agyebeng. “I will be naive to think that it [my arrest] has nothing to do with a court case that
Gabby Otchere Darko has with me,” Prof. Frimpong-Boateng says.
tors that the IMCIM Task Force nothing. It’s a coverup for their great sins
seized. What do you know about the against Ghana and its people.
excavators?
A: It’s just a smokescreen, because they Q: It is also reported that the special
know very well that I have not taken any prosecutor is investigating you for
excavators anywhere. And I did not give misappropriation of funds at the
any excavators to any party officials to do IMCIM. How do you respond?
galamsey. In August 2018, when Hon. A: The IMCIM operated under the Office
Asumah-Kyeremeh took over from Hon. of the President, and we sent our budget to
Amewu at the Ministry of Land and the Ministry of Finance, but the funds were
Natural Resources, cabinet took a decision disbursed through the Ministry of Lands
that he should take care of all the seized and Natural Resources, so that was the
excavators. He went to where the IMCIM cycle. We had an accountant and account
was keeping the excavators and took over. officers, and all the funds at the IMCIM
Yes, a few excavators got missing, but the were fully accounted for.
committee was able to apprehend some This special prosecutor doesn’t really
people who released the excavators back know the caliber of the man called Prof.
to their owners in return for kickbacks. We Frimpong-Boateng.
reported them to the Criminal Investiga- If nothing at all, I rejected a bribe of
tions Department of the Police Service. The US$5 million to save the nation a whopping
main culprit, one Seth Mantey, in his state- US$88 million in the Apex Pollution
ment to the police, revealed everything Control Company Limited judgment debt
about their scheme and even where they matter. So how could I turn around and
lodged the monies. It was all over in misappropriate petty cash at the IMCIM?
the media. My so-called arrest is all about Does it make any sense to you?

africawatch l october/november 2023 57

Special interview prof. frimpong-Boateng

Q: Could you tell us more about that

judgment debt matter and the US$5
Starting from the Office million bribe? How did it come about?
of the Attorney-General A: Sometime in July 2020, when I was
and Ministry of Justice to at the Ministry of Environment, Science,
the Ministry of Finance, Technology, and Innovation, I received
a scheme was put in a letter from the Ministry of Finance,
place in April 2020 requesting my approval for the payment
to swindle Ghana of a of a judgment debt to the tune of
humongous US$88.24 US$88,247,246.63, please let me repeat
million, but Prof. it, US$88,247,246.63, to Apex Pollution
Frimpong-Boateng’s Control Company. I could not believe my
refusal to take a US$5 eyes. It had a lot of red flags.
million bribe to authorize The Ministry of Environment had signed
the deal, stopped it. Then an agreement with the company in 2014 to
Deputy Finance Minister carry out monitoring of vehicle emissions,
Charles Adu Boahen but the project was not implemented at
(inset below) was all. The company claimed it invested
suspected to be behind $6,613,520.63 in the project and sought
the deal. a judgment debt. Somebody somewhere
decided to engage the company in arbitra-
tion for the government, and in addition
to its alleged initial investment of
$6,613,520.63, offered the company
$20,006,226 for a return on investment and
$61,627,500 for the loss of income for
13 years. And this came up to a whopping
$88,247,246.63. The Apex Pollution
Control Company was going to get about
$82 million for doing no work. So shocking!
To me, there were several irregularities
about it. I could see that a huge scandal was
staring us right in the face. And I didn’t
want to be part of it.

Q: You mean those involved just

conspired to “create, loot, and share”
the $88.2 million?
A: The whole thing was too shady. I
confronted Finance Minister Ken Ofori-
Atta about it, and he told me Charles Adu
Boahen, the then deputy minister for
finance, was probably behind it. Soon after
some people from the Apex Pollution
Control Company came to see me in my
office and offered me a US$5 million bribe
to approve the judgment debt for them. I
rejected it and told them to disappear from
my office.

Q: You rejected $5 million?

A: Yes, of course. For me, it was a natural
thing to do. I then wrote to the president
to inform him that I could not, and cannot,
approve the judgement debt for the Apex
Pollution Control Company.

Q: Did you get any response from the

president? And were you shocked that
the president dropped you from his
administration for his second term?
A: I did not get any response. But
whoever serves in the president’s adminis-
tration is his prerogative, so one cannot talk

58 october/november 2023 l africawatch

 are falling apart, and the fight against
galamsey is going nowhere. What has
caused the man to change? I don’t know.
But whatever it is, I don’t think it is worth
the destruction that illegal mining is
causing to our environment.

Q: A prominent Ghanaian economics

professor, Stephen Adei, was reported
as saying “one of the most respected
people in this country who have made
the greatest contribution, unparal-
leled, is Professor Kwabena Frimpong-
Boateng. He writes a report to the
head of state that some people are
doing wrong, and he is arrested. And
those alleged criminals have not yet
been called to be questioned.” Prof.
Adei said the nation lacked integrity.
Is that a fair statement?
A: Professor Adei is a very important
person in society, and I agree with what
he said. It is a fair statement because
sometimes the way things are done in this
country makes one tend to believe that a lot
of prisoners are more righteous than the
people who put them there. That is why
now some Ghanaians are losing confidence
in state institutions.
A nation without integrity is a serious
matter, and Ghanaians should really
ponder over it.

Q: With all that you are going

through now, are you still going to stay
in mainstream politics?
A: It depends on what you mean by
mainstream politics. I think that what is
happening in the NPP now is a nightmare
which will soon pass. I will hang in there
and will continue to give good advice to any
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng says he wrote to the president to inform him that he could not government that will care to listen to me.
approve the judgment debt for the Apex Pollution Control Company, but did not get any
response. Corruption now “permeates every sector of this country, and it is getting worse by Q: Recently you said with a bit of
the day,” he adds. “The Akufo-Addo who is ruling Ghana today is not the same man that we anger: “How many people have done
campaigned for to win the 2016 presidential election. He is not the Akufo-Addo that I knew.” for this country what I have done?
When people are pursuing their greed
and you point it out, you’re demo-
about that. He can fire any minister any to win the 2016 presidential election. He is nized.” Are you frustrated? Do you
time and one must reckon with that. But I not the Akufo-Addo that I knew. have regrets about returning home to
am at peace with myself. Ghana to help your people?
Q: Do you believe President Akufo- A: No, no! I have never regretted coming
Q: One of the major criticisms of the Addo was sincere when he pledged to home to help my people. But sometimes
Akufo-Addo government has been its put his presidency on the line to fight when people who have done nothing in
inability to combat corruption. How do galamsey? their lives – other than stealing from the
you see that situation? A: Oh yeah! I was on the high table with nation and living fat on the misery of the
A: I think the president himself will him when he made that statement, and at people – try to destroy your good works just
agree that he has not been able to fight the time, I believed he was sincere. That to satisfy their selfish interest, it irritates
corruption. Today, it permeates every statement was profound, and it inspired me me. I have done so much for my country
sector of this country, and it is getting to work harder, even when other members and saved so many lives. I cherish every
worse by the day. It’s unfortunate that of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on moment of it. To whom much is given, much
things have turned up to be this way. The Illegal Mining were not that committed. As is required. So as long as God gives me
Akufo-Addo who is ruling Ghana today is I mentioned a moment ago, the president is breath, I will continue to help Ghanaians in
not the same man that we campaigned for a different person now. That is why things whatever way possible. n

africawatch l october/november 2023 59