Hon Fatimatu Abubakar, Deputy Information Minister, has described as irrelevant and false, some comments made by former President John Dramani Mahama against President Akuffo Addo.

The deputy minister’s comment comes after former President John Dramani Mahama on his Facebook page, asked His Excellency President Nana Akuffo Addo to end his penchant for clearing his appointees and close associates, alleged to be involved in illegal mining activities.

Mr Mahama disclosed that the behaviour of the President is untoward and thus advised him to desist from same. According to him, President Akuffo Addo has assumed a dishonourable badge as “the clearing agent.”

However, speaking in an interview, Hon Fatimatu Abubakar maintained that the former President’s assertion was false.

“The reason I’m saying it is false is that the truth is brief; so a video that is less than a minute, he (Mr Mahama) will bring thesis as a reply. I understand him that for every statement, there is the potential to gain some political points.”
Fatimatu

The Deputy Information Minister opined that Mr Mahama’s statement was missing a critical point. According to her, the response from Mr Mahama should have been “Akufo-Addo, you are a clearing agent because go to community A, B, C Akonta mining is engaged in illegal mining activities as you speak.”

“If the former President does not have contrary information which points to the fact that as at the time the President was speaking there was an ongoing illegal activity, the former President is wrong for that and I say that the statement is vague and irrelevant.”
Fatimatu

According to her, President Akuffo Addo’s statement does not in any way contradict all the facts by the Ministry of Lands and Resources and the Forestry Commission.

Background

President Akuffo Addo on Wednesday January 4, asserted that Akonta Mining Company Limited is not involved in any illegal mining anywhere in Ghana currently.

His Excellency made this statement at the 28th National and 16th Biennial Congress of the National Union of Ghana Catholic Diocesan Priests Association held in Koforidua.

President Akuffo Addo while responding to the Chairperson of the event, Ing. Ken Ashigbey’s question of why Chairman Wontumi continues to walk a free man when he should be investigated and prosecuted, noted that Akonta Mining was not engaged in any illegal activities.

Many groups and individuals have demanded punitive measures against the company and its owners, led by the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi, for alleged illegalities perpetuated by the company in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve in the Western North Region last year. The Company, was stopped from mining in the Tano Nimiri forest reserve in October 2022 by the Lands Ministry.

According to the Ministry, even though Akonta Mining Limited had a mining lease to undertake mining operations in some parts of Samreboi, outside the Forest Reserve, the company had no mineral right to undertake any mining operations in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve. The Special Prosecutor is currently investigating the matter.

Meanwhile, the Media Coalition Against Galamsey reminded the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, of his promise to investigate and bring to book owners and officials of Akonta Mining Limited for their alleged involvement in illegal mining activities.

According to the coalition, there was substantial evidence to prosecute the directors of the mining firm for their alleged engagement in illegal mining in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve in the Western Region in contravention of the ban on mining in such reserves.

The reminder is a follow-up to two petitions earlier written to Dr Dampare to carry out swift investigations into the alleged illegal mining activities by the firm, owned by the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako.

The coalition is made up of some civil society organisations (CSOs) and convened by Ken Ashigbey. According to Ashigbey, the coalition was concerned about the seeming silence on the request for investigations, adding that persons identified had not been invited for questioning let alone charged.

Dr Ashigbey noted that the coalition would make an effort to meet with Dr Dampare again for feedback on their petition since the IGP also owed it a duty to the nation to help stop galamsey.