According to George Kwame Aboagye, the MP for the Asene Akroso Manso constituency of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Edmund Kwadwo Koda (Captain Koda, retired) did not intervene to secure the release of his excavators, which had been seized by the Task Force of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).
When the Task Force of the IMCIM impounded two excavators at a location close to Anyinam and deposited them at the Anyinam Police Station, according to Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng's report to the Presidency on the work of the IMCIM in 2021, "frantic telephone calls were received from Captain (rtd) Koda of the Presidential security detail, who asked for the excavators to be released."
He further claimed that Captain Koda told the task team that George Kwame Aboagye, the concessionaire, and Asene Akroso Manso, MP, were his brothers.
Captain Koda was not involved.
However, Aboagye wrote in a letter dated April 27, 2023, to Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the former minister of environment, science, technology, and innovation (MESTI), that Captain Koda had nothing to do with the excavators' release.
Part of Mr. Aboagye's letter stated, "Edmund Kwadwo Koda (Captain Koda), at no point, intervened, influenced any individuals, or facilitated the release of the two (2) excavators that had been placed in police custody temporarily."
He said that the two excavators that the IMCIM had seized belonged to a legitimate mining business that was working at a mining location in Anyinam.
He indicated that he had been affiliated with Kocbad Ventures Limited and Kesuadom Enterprise Limited, both of which had gotten the necessary licenses and permissions to engage in the mining sector in Ghana, even if he was evasive regarding the name of the business those excavators belonged to.
Operations Mr. Aboagye revealed that when one of the mining businesses was operating at Anyinam, which was far from the Birim River, IMCIM officials from the Special Task of the IM
Out of the three excavators on the job site, they were told to make sure they were in compliance before releasing them.
He said that occurred when the IMCIM Task Force determined that the location really had two open dams as opposed to only one.
Because there was very little access to water resources and no nearby natural water body, these dams were being used as a reservoir for that very reason. The IMCIM personnel temporarily seized control of two of the three excavators there to verify that the third excavator covered the dam and regained the area in accordance with this equipment.
CIM visited them as part of a normal inspection of mining sites and seized two mining equipment.
"As faithfully reported by the media accompanying the IMCIM, the dam was recovered within a week of the site inspection and the excavators were accordingly released upon compliance," the statement said.
In the crossfire started by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng's report, "this is the straightforward and unqualified record of events that have, unfortunately but predictably, been distorted to suit the various parties," the letter said.
The head of the IMCIM and his deputy flatly denied getting any request or instruction for the release of the excavators from anybody, including Captain Koda, and were ready to respond to questions about it, according to Mr Aboagye.
Additionally, Mr. Aboagye denied taking part in or having any connection to illegal mining (galamsey) activities in the nation.
blogpay
Total Comments: 0