Gwira Omanhen Has No Traditional Capacity To Ban Okoben Mining Company From Opearting In Gwira – Adotenhene
According to the Adotenhene, the actions and inactions of the Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan and followers including the Chief of Gwira Banso, Nana Ette Akrade II and the Chief of Gwira Abelebu, Nana Dominle Mieza II are creating unnecessary, tension, confusion and insecurity in Gwira.
Freeman Koryekpor 
The Adotenhene of Tumiatu in the Gwira Traditional Area in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality of the Western Region, Nana Kpole Antoanah V, has sounded a strong worded warnings to the President of Gwira Traditional Council, Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II to stop his continuous inhumane attitude of peddling lies to the general public that the Gwira traditional authorities have banned the Okobeng Mining Company Limited from operating in Gwira.
According to the Adotenhene, the actions and inactions of the Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan and followers including the Chief of Gwira Banso, Nana Ette Akrade II and the Chief of Gwira Abelebu, Nana Dominle Mieza II are creating unnecessary, tension, confusion and insecurity in Gwira.
He reaffirmed that "The rightful and custodial owners of the lands in Gwira who gave the mining concession to the Managing Director of Okoben Mining Company Limited, Nana Okoben Amponsah to mine gold resources have taken such action to ban the company from mining in its concession at Dominase in Gwira."
"The Okoben Mining Company Limited being owned by Nana Okoben Amponsah has done no wrong in Gwira. We are strongly backing the company that it done no wrong in its mining activities in our area.
"....Even in the event that the company has done wrong to be banned from mining on its concession at Dominase in Gwira, l, Nana Kpole Antoanah have a traditional power and capacity as the Adotenhene of Gwira to ban the company. But it is not Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II because he doesn't have the traditional locus and power to do so as far the traditions, customs of the area are concerned.
"This is because Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II is not the rightful custodial or allodial title owners of the lands in Gwira. We warning that the continuous fake news and biggest lies peddled around against the company by Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II, Nana Ette Akrade II, Nana Dominle Mieza II and their followers are completely violation of the traditions, customs and norms of the Gwira Traditional Stool. So it is high time for Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II and his followers to stop their continuous lies and libelous stories against the company and render unqualified apology to Nana Okoben Amponsah," Nana Kpole Antoanah V further stressed.
Addressing a press conference in Gwira on Tuesday February 6, 2023, the Adotenhene spoke about the legality in the gold mining activities of the company since it started its operations in the area, and that pointed out that the gold mining company has been honouring its various task obligations by way of paying compensation packages to the affected farmers and also be paying royalties to the Gwira Stool.
"I want to state categorically that all the various works that the Managing Director of Okoben Mining Company Limited, Nana Okoben Amponsah has done in the years of 2016 and 2017 on the concession he secured from the Gwira Stool at Dominase, l am personally present before Nana Okoben Amponsah brought the cheques to pay the traditional authorities who are the allodial owners of Gwria Stool. And these cheques brought and presented by Nana Okoben Amponsah to the elders of the Gwira Stool were dully cashed in the bank and paid the beneficial personalities," Nana Kpole Antoanah V reaffirmed.
Nana Kpole Antoanah V was responding to allegations leveled against Nana Okoben Amponsah that he issued dull cheques to defraud cocoa and other farmers whose farms were affected in relation to the gold mining activities on his concession at Dominase in Gwira.
It would be recalled that the scores of self-seeking chiefs led by Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II called on the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to withdraw any license granted to Okobeng Mining within fourteen (14) days.
According to them, because of the company illegal activities, its operational works have degraded their land and polluted it’s rivers such as River Ankobra, streams and other river bodies on the said concession.
Speaking at a news conference held in Accra recently, Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II, hinted that when Nananom and the people started complaining, about the company’s Managing Director, Mr. Amposah is using some methods to intimidate Nananom and the people of Gwira Traditional Area with armed land guards with offensive weapons.
He stated that the company has failed to compensate cocoa and other farmers whose farms have been destroyed depriving them their livelihood. When the elders demanded for land compensation, the company issued dull cheques to defraud us.
But in a counter press conference held in Gwira on Tuesday February 6, 2023, Nana Kpole Antoanah V flatly rubbished all the allegations against the company by Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II.
He reiterated that there are documentary envidences which generally showed that the company is a law abiding mining firm, and that since it started the gold mining operations in its concession at Dominase in Gwira, it has been working as prescribed in prescribed in the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (ACT 703) in Ghana.
The Adotenhene clarified that he was even the very traditional office holder of Gwira who received the various genuine cheques issued by Nana Okoben Amponsah to honour his mandatory payment of the various claims of compensation to the hundreds of cocoa farmers and other elders/ residents in Gwira were affected in the mining activities of the company.
The chief stressed that these lawfully compensation packages were paid to the farmers, particularly the cocoa growing ones, explaining that there was not true that the company has deprived the affected cocoa farmers in payment of their compensation packages due them.
Nana Kpole Antoanah V stated that being the Adotenhene of the area he was not even being informed by Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II that he was taking the delegation of chiefs to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in Accra to organize such press conference to lie against Okoben Mining Company Limited.
The chief pointed out that Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II and his followers were aware that if they have added him to the press conference in Accra he would have spilled the beans on their biggest lies and libelous stories because he didn't support bad things.
Mincing no words, Nana Kpole Antoanah V jumped into the defence of the company and reiterated "we the accredited chiefs and elders wast to stress that "Okoben Mining has not issued dull cheques to defraud us and also the company is not engaged in any illegal mining activity anywhere in Gwira and it evil hatched by Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II and his followers to sabotage the company.
According to him, Nana Okoben Amponsah has become a prime target of attacks by Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II and his followers including including thousands of illegal small-scale miners, who are indiscriminately mining gold from communities including Bamiankor, Ayinase, Gwira-Ampasie, Akango, Dualle and Akosono among others in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality.
He pointed out that these critics of the company were assiduously working to sabotage the company to look bad in the face of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-land his New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
But the chief minced no words when he stressed that the majority of the accredited chiefs and elders of Gwira would used their chieftaincy positions to defend Nana Okoben Amponsah and his company because the company has done no wrong.
The chief stated categorically that their checks have revealed that the illegal small scale mining activities of these galamseyers in these communities were rather destroying river Akonbra and other water bodies but not the company of Nana Okoben Amponsah.
"Since Nana Okoben Amponsah secured his concession at Dominase in Gwira from we the traditional authorities and got the necessary legal license and permit from the state mining regulatory institutions including Minerals Commission and Environmental Protection Agency, we have been monitoring the gold mining activities of miner and can attest to the fact that Nana Okoben Amponsah has been using legal means to work on his gold mining concession and put in place measures to fight galamseyers from destroying the river Akonbra and environment including the forest range reserves," the chief noted.
"We are calling on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP government that the evil plots being hatched by these chefs to the effect accusing the company of engaging in illegal mining activities which they claimed had polluted River Ankobra, streams and other river bodies on its gold concession at Dominase is a complete mischivous and one-sided vicious trial by media.
To this end, Nana Kpole Antoanah V, urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and general public to disregard the claims by Angama Tuagyan, saying that the traditional authorities of Gwira have not banned the Okoben Mining Company Limited from mining on its gold mining concession at Dominase.
