Following the increased rate of galamsey in the country a few months ago, Akonta Mining Limited was one of the lead suspects in the practice of illegal mining, and an investigation which was conducted to delve deeper into the case has finally been completed.
As a result of these allegations being thrown at the company, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel Abu Jinapor called on the Forestry Commission to take action on the issue. The Forestry Commission heeded to this call for action and organized an investigation to look into the matter.
According to Mr. Jinapor, the investigations were finally over and the report has been handed over to the police for the criminal proceedings to commence. He stated that the forest reserves by law are guarded and regulated by the Forestry Commission of Ghana, and the commission has the mandate for the exploitation and the preservation of these forest reserves.
“The matter to deal with Akonta Mining, with the greatest of respect, I brought it up to the national discussion. In all modesty, Akonta Mining, it was because of the statement I made and the statement I put out there, which is why it became such a major national topical issue.”
Hon. Samuel Jinapor
Samuel Abu Jinapor also mentioned that, he and his team carried out their work with sincerity and without fear or favor.
Attorney-General And CID Petitioned Over Over Akonta Mining’s Case
Dr. Ken Ashigbey, Convener for Media Coalition Against Illegal Mining, stated that, the Media Coalition for Illegal Mining has sent petitions to a few important social elements such as the Attorney-General and the CID concerning the case of Akonta Mining Limited. While he awaits the responses of these people, some conversations have already begun since the engagements with Lawyer Martin Kpebu.
He mentioned that the steering committee of the media coalition also petitioned the Inspector General of Police, and the two parties were scheduled to have a meeting which was postponed and yet to be rescheduled.
“As for the Attorney-General, we’ve not even had an acknowledgement yet of the letter that we sent. We copied the Chief Justice, we copied His Excellency the President, we copied the Speaker. We are yet to hear from all of them, but thank God we are beginning to see other elements of society also respond.”
Dr. Ken Ashigbey
According to Dr. Ashigbey, the Catholic Bishop Conference also stated that, Akonta Mining Limited should be arrested for the illegal mining processes it was involved in. He added that he keenly looks forward with hope to the responses of the IGP and the CID; also the President has asked for evidence, and they are hoping that something will be done about this.
“Even before the Forestry Commission went there, we knew for a fact that there was equipment of Akonta Mining that were found on the Tano Nimiri reserve for which the minerals commission said they don’t have a permit. So, if you found equipment in the theater of this illegality, I am surprised we’re waiting for the forestry commission to go and do some investigation.”
Dr. Ken Ashigbey
Dr. Ashigbey mentioned that in order for Ghanaians to deal with this canker, they should deal with the financiers of illegal mining and that, there was enough evidence to prove that Akonta Mining Limited was involved in this illegality. He therefore expected to see an arrest and some prosecutions take place soon.
READ ALSO: It Is The Collective Responsibility Of The World To Change Global Financial Architecture- Jinapor
