The General Secretary for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu has revealed why government is calling for the the raw unedited Anas’ galamsey footage.
According to him, the raw tape will help government deal with the culprits involved.
Government on Thursday stated it will call for the raw unedited video and have the case of investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ latest exposé on illegal mining properly investigated.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Information Minister stated if any public officer is found to have solicited monies or taken bribes to bend rules the necessary action will be taken.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen Show on Friday, Mr Boadu stated the call for the unedited footage is to ascertain the truthfulness of the expose’.
“The call for raw unedited footage is to help us deal with culprits even though I am not surprised with the outcome of the video. But we first need to listen to the entire conversation first and ascertain the conversation that transpired before the money was paid.”
According to Mr Boadu, a person cannot be accused of taking bribe if it was based on an offer that was given.
“You come to my office and ask for help and if you give me money for an offer, then you capture that you have paid a bribe to me. It is not bribe because it was unsolicited.”
Mr Boadu however urged the appropriate institutions put in place must work harder to sanitize the mining sector the best way they can.
“We have about 5,000 operational excavators in the country but most of them are not licensed but we must be able to register and trace all excavators in the country.”
The latest undercover work showed the officials receiving various sums of money to facilitate the process and provide security protection for the mining company.
When the war on galamsey was declared, government decided to give a clear picture of the scope and duration of the intervention. It, therefore, set up the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) to implement the two-year road map.
While the Committee has received plaudits for a good job done so far, some complaints have also been heard about underhand dealings involving officials in charge at the IMCIM who allegedly take bribes to allow people circumvent the rules of the roadmap.
Source: Adomonline.com/
