Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has called on Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame to acknowledge his mistake in his assessment of former Environment Minister Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s report on illegal mining.
Martin Kpebu, in a Joy News interview, insisted that a comprehensive investigation was not conducted on the report, urging the Attorney General to reconsider his advice on the matter.
“Mr. Dame shouldn’t take us for fools. No, we are all at the Bar, he is not superhuman; he should accept that he has made a mistake. He was busy and didn’t supervise, or if it was intentional, too bad. He should just go back and do the right thing,” Myjoyonline.com quoted him in their report.
This development comes in response to the Attorney General’s conclusion in his advice to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), stating that Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s allegations in his report on illegal mining lacked evidence to prosecute those named for mining and other offenses.
The Attorney-General has consequently recommended that the police release individuals mentioned in the report, except for those still under investigation.
However, Mr. Kpebu criticized this decision, labeling it as incomplete and a whitewash.
He explained that the Attorney General’s report failed to address investigations in the forest areas where the illegal mining activities took place, emphasizing the need to conduct on-site investigations to establish the facts.
Godfred Yeboah Dame encouraged his critics to utilize the Right to Information (RTI) law if they wished to gain insights into the investigation processes and updates on the matter.
In response to the Attorney General’s advice, Mr. Kpebu described it as a dereliction of duty, asserting that it amounted to “abrogating and reprobating.”
According to him, in every legal proceeding, all details of the investigation must be thoroughly examined, suggesting that the Attorney General should withdraw his current advice and conduct a more comprehensive investigation.
Source: ghanaweb.com
