I Have Been Mining Gold For Many Years Now Without Violating Minerals and Mining Act! -Okobeng Mining CEO Fires Back At Critics (Part Two)
He pointed out that since he secured the legal environmental license and permit from the state mining regulatory institutions including Mineral Commission and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to mine in his concession at Dominase, he has not violated the law and regulations regulating the activities of mining gold resources.
Freeman Koryekpor 
THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE Officer of Okobeng Mining Company, Nana Okobeng Amponsah, has stated
that his company has been mining gold resource on the 31.5 kilometers square gold mining concession at Dominase in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality of the Western Region as being prescribed in Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (ACT 703) in Ghana.
He pointed out that since he secured the legal environmental license and permit from the state mining regulatory institutions including Mineral Commission and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to mine in his concession at Dominase, he has not violated the law and regulations regulating the activities of mining gold resources.
Being the loyal and law abiding citizen of Ghana, Nana Okobeng stressed that his company's gold mining activities does not destroyed river Akonbra as being claimed in the series of media reports attributed to his enemies who are predominantly illegal small scale miners, popularly known as galamseyers and the two prominent personalities who are government appointees from the Western Region.
According to him, the allegations leveled against him that his outfit is polluting River Akonbra are absolutely false, products of the critics’ imagination and were mischievously designed by the critics and their paymasters to disparage him, stain his reputation, court public disaffection for him and to bring him into abhorrence in the eyes of right-thinking members of the public and the global community.
The seasoned miner maintained that his reputation has been “violently damaged” and called on general public to disregard the publication made against him.
He noted that he has become a prime target of attack by 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.
Nana Okobeng Amponsah stated categorically that the illegal small scale mining activities of these galamseyers in these communities were rather destroying river Akonbra but not his company.
"Since l secured my concession and got the necessary legal license and permit from the state mining regulatory institutions including Minerals Commission and Environmental Protection Agency, l have been using legal means to fight galamseyers from destroying the river Akonbra and environment including the forest range reserves as well protecting my gold mining concession from being invaded by these illegal small scale miners.
"…So if I notice that someone has invaded my concession, l reported such a person to the police to be arrested and processed before the law court.”
According to Nana Okobeng Amponsah, his recent woes were orchestrated by a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who doubles as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the Western Region (name withheld) who is in league with a senior police officer in Takoradi to influence some key small-scale miners to accuse him of shooting to kill them in galamsey site.
He stated that he his visited the illegal site of miners at Gwira-Ampasie to prevent the galamseyers of destroying the River Akonbra and environment but the recent allegations leveled against him that he fired gun shots to kill these two miners and destroyed river Akonbra were completely untrue and unfounded.
He indicated that since he secured the concession for the operation of the gold mining, the people of these communities were using the land for illegal small scale mining activities.
These illegal activities of the galamseyers, Nana Okobeng Amponsah stressed has informed his decision to hire the services of some ex-soldiers to control the catchment areas of his concession at Dominase.
He pointed out that when the government noticed that the illegal mining activities of these small scale miners particularly the dredged in River Akonbra near his mining concession it deployed operation Vanguard team to the area to flush out the miners.
He explained that the Operation Vanguard is a Military Police Joint Task Force (JTF) set up by the President of Ghana in 2017 to combat the operation of galamseyers in Ghana who are illegal miners and have over the years depleted Ghana's forest cover.
He noted that the operation vanguard team who are using speed boats came to join his ex-military personnel for which they worked assiduously together in the fight against the galamseyers on the River Akonbra but the recalcitrant miners are operating illegally in their sites under the cover.
He added that he has sent one The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) officer to the gold concession at the time of the China nationals came to dig a big dredge within the River Akonbra.
He indicated that they are looking on the alternative way to remove the Chinese miners from the River Akonbra.
According to him, the Chinese mined gold to destroy the River Akonbra as well as defecate into the river which has eventually polluted River Akonbra.
Following this development, Nana Okobeng Amponsah,noted that he invited the journalists of Adom FM, UTV, Daily Searchlight newspaper visited the area to take media coverages about the illegal small scale mining activities being engaged by the locals and Chinese nationals.
He stated that proceeded to lodge an official complain with the Western Regional Police Commander in Senkodi-Takoradi about the vast destruction caused to environment and river Akonbra by the illegal Chinese miners and locals.
He asserted that the commander has deployed police officers to accompany the journalists and him to the concession back and fortunately they were able to arrest illegal Chinese miners who mounted the dreg on the river Akonbra.
He showcased his long time efforts that he put in place to protect the River Akonbra from polluting by the illegal small scale miners.
He added that since in the year 2016, he has started measures of working with the national security agencies and anti galamsey taskforce to fight against the irresponsible mining activities which has been polluting the River Akonbra.
He mentioned that when he started fight against irresponsible mining activities on the River Akonbra, many people were against his actions.
He alleged that the traditional office holders in the communities where the river Akonbra passed through have been collecting monies from the operators of the boats who had been crossing the galamseyers to their illegal sites along the river Akonbra.
"So when he was fight against the illegal small scale miners who are living in these communities before working on the catchment areas around the River Akonbra, he becomes a threat to them and they hated me, he narrated.
