The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako alias Wontumi has denied reports that his mining company is engaged in illegal mining activities in the Tano Nimiri Forest.
According to Wontumi, his Akonta Mining Company Limited is a validly licensed company whose mining lease is valid until 2035.
“As I speak to you, I have a lease for Akonta Mining which will expire in 2035,” he stated in an interview on his Wontumi Radio.
He noted that his company cannot be said to be engaged in illegal mining as it complies with the rules of the Mining Commission.
“The difference between legal and illegal mining is having documents to cover your operations. If you have documents, the Minerals Commission has direct supervision over you and ensures that your activities are in compliance with the law,” he stated.
Wontumi’s claim follows a statement issued by the minister for lands and natural resources directing the Forestry Commission to cease illegal mining activities being undertaken by Akonta Mining Company Limited in the Nimiri Forest Reserve.
“The attention of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has been drawn to publications about certain operations by Akonta Mining Limited in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve in the Amenfi West Municipality in the Western Region.
“Records available to the Ministry shows that while Akonta Mining Ltd has a mining lease to undertake mining operations in some parts of Samreboi, outside the Forest Reserve, the company has no mineral right to undertake any mining operations in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve,” the Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor noted in his statement dated September 30, 2022.
But according to Wontumi, claims of his company engaging in illegal mining is fuelled by Samartex Company Limited, a timber company licensed to operate in the Nimiri Forest.
“Samartex always goes about with hired press especially media stations affiliated to the NDC to perpetuate propaganda against me that Wontumi is into illegal mining. With the height I have attained in life, how will I engage in galamsey? I have four concessions in Samraboi one is for prospecting and three are mining leases. All of them belong to me and can be verified on the map of the Minerals Commission,” he said.
Meanwhile, pressure group OccupyGhana has called for the prosecution of Akonta Mining Company, its directors and officers.
In a letter dated September 30, 2022, and addressed to the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, OccupyGhana charged the minister to forward facts of the company’s illegal activities to the Attorney General and the police for action.
“We therefore demand that you forthwith refer the facts and evidence in your possession that show that the said mining company is undertaking mining operations in breach of the Act, to the police and the Attorney-General for further investigations and prosecution of the company and its directors and officers,” the group said.
According to OccupyGhana, the details of the company’s activities as shared in the minister’s statement calls for action beyond the directive to the Forestry Commission.
“You state that the basis for this directive is that the said company is undertaking the mining operations without a mining lease.
“While congratulating you on this step, we would be taken aback if that was all you did. If the company is engaged in the activities that you have alleged, then it is committing an offence that is punishable by fines and prison terms between 15 and 25 years,” the group said.
