Professor Frimpong Boateng details alleged allocation of 40 forest reserves for galamsey under NPP

Former Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has accused the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, widely known as Sir John, who served as Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission during the then Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government, of giving out 40 forest reserves for illegal mining activities widely known as galamsey. Speaking on Channel One TV's Point of View on September 16, 2026, said the alleged move was one of the reasons the Forestry Commission did not support efforts to establish a coordinated system for tackling illegal mining and protect the country's natural resources. Galamsey: See the current state of Ankobra River Prof Frimpong-Boateng further explained that the government at the time sought to link the activities of institutions including the Forestry Commission, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Water Resources Commission and local assemblies as part of a coordinated response to galamsey. However, according to Prof Frimpong-Boateng, the Forestry Commission did not sign on to the agreement because of the alleged decision involving the 40 forest reserves. Prof Frimpong-Boateng said he subsequently brought the matter to the attention of President Akufo-Addo and asked him to convene a meeting to discuss the issue. "The Forestry Commission was supposed to link all the activities of the Minerals Commission, EPA, Ghana Water Resources Commission, and the District Assemblies. "The Forestry Commission did not sign on to the thing because at the time the Chairman had given 40 forest reserves for illegal mining and I drew the President's attention to it and I asked him to call for a meeting", he noted. Prof Frimpong-Boateng said he even prepared a report on the matter, separate from the report on illegal mining, and presented it to the president. “So, I produced a report, apart from the galamsey report. I showed it to the president. I said, Mr President, call for a meeting,” he stated. According to him, a meeting was subsequently held with the president, with the then Chief of Staff, Sir John and other officials in attendance. Prof Frimpong-Boateng said he used the meeting to directly question Sir John over the alleged decision involving the forest reserves. According to him, other state institutions were initially reluctant to fully support the coordinated approach to tackling illegal mining. “I said, Mr President, this guy, the head of the Forestry Commission, is a greater danger to the forest of this country. ... "He (Sir John) did not sign on to it. Minerals Commission was dancing around it for some time. But it was a very serious problem,” he alleged. Inside Zonda Tec’s Ultra-Modern Car Assembly Plant in Ghana Source: GhanaWeb (https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Professor-Frimpong-Boateng-details-alleged-allocation-of-40-forest-reserves-for-galamsey-under-NPP-2052592)