Host of “Good Evening Ghana” on Metro TV, Paul Adom-Ochere, has claimed that former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, was in tears when President Akufo-Addo informed him that he would not be reappointed.
In one of his television broadcasts, Adom-Ochere disclosed that he acquired this information while present at the Jubilee House, where he was in the process of gathering details pertaining to the ministerial appointments to be made by President Akufo-Addo.
Adom-Ochere mentioned that on occasions when he visited the Jubilee House, he overheard conversations about Prof. Frimpong-Boateng breaking down in tears upon receiving the news from President Akufo-Addo.
“I’m going to show you some way that’s some way what it means I’m going to show you in documents and therefore a decision was taken that our friend should not continue as minister of environment this is where the matter begins and ends.
“When the senior man was invited to be told that he cannot continue as Minister people who saw him at the Jubilee House remember that he was in tears I didn’t see him but so many people have testified that was crying said how did I didn’t I wasn’t there no because that time because we’re looking for story every day we go to Jubilee House you’re looking for story about who is going to minister of what.
“If you remember our social media page were speculating this going to that’s how you get the story from I go to Jubilee House and you talk sniff around and you get the information so every day journalists were there and I’ll go there too I don’t remember seeing Frimpong Boateng but then everyone said oh he was crying well that’s the matter that he was unhappy that he was not going to be part of the ministerial staff”.
He alleged that the former minister’s removal was largely instigated by certain individuals within the government.
These individuals, he claimed, were uncomfortable with how Prof. Frimpong-Boateng was managing the fight against illegal mining (galamsey), as it could potentially expose them.
“So what is Frimpong-Boateng, what is the real meaning behind the story. So it begins like this in 2000 elections occurred by the time elections were occurring there were a lot of concerns expressed about galamsey particularly the efforts of Akufo-Addo’s government to stop galamsey was appeared to be creating some difficulties in the hinterland.
“The government sat in Accra, Frimpong-Boateng was in charge of the committee and plenty problems were happening now as a result of all of these problems my understanding is that the president met with Frimpong-Boateng at some point in 2021 when he was reviewing his ministers and all that you know the president had the monitoring and evaluation department people think they didn’t work, Akoto Osei did a good job.
“Akoto Osei was monitoring and reporting to the president when other ministers didn’t know that was reporting to them so the government was concerned that this whole Frimpong Boateng thing and the galamsey thing is becoming some way,” he added.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng served as the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation from 2017 to 2021.
He was the then Chairman of the now-dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (ICIM)
He is a well-known cardiothoracic surgeon and the founder of the National Cardiothoracic Centre.