Leave Okoben Mining Company Chief Executive Officer Alone -Residents of Dominase Warns Detractors
According to the residents, who are predominantly the youths in Dominase, the mining company owned by Nana Okoben Amponsah has not engaged in any illegal mining activity which has polluted River Akonbra and other river bodies in the area, as being claimed by the critics of the company.
Freeman Koryekpor 
Thousands of concerned residents living in Dominase and its adjoining communities in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality of the Western Region have sounded a strong word of warnings to the self seeking individuals and groups to stop their continuous habits of peddling falsehoods against the activities of Okoben Mining Company Limited, a wholly Ghanaian owned gold mining firm operating at Dominase in the municipality.
According to the residents, who are predominantly the youths in Dominase, the mining company owned by Nana Okoben Amponsah has not engaged in any illegal mining activity which has polluted River Akonbra and other river bodies in the area, as being claimed by the critics of the company.
They added that the owner of the company has also not fired gun shot to kill any miner or person in Gwira-Ampasie to the best of their knowledge as the residents in the area.
"We want to respond briefly to the critics on the issue of illegal mining and allegations leveled against Nana Okoben Amponsah of shooting gun to kill people in Gwira-Ampasie. We want to assure them that Okoben Mining Company Limited is not engaged in any illegal mining or never made an attempt to shoot any one anywhere in Ghana as we speak.
They reaffirmed that since Nana Okoben Amponsah secured legal environmental license and permit from the state mining regulatory institutions including Mineral Commission and Environmental Protection Agency to mine in his concession at Dominase, he has not violated the law and regulations regulating the activities of mining gold resources.
According to the residents, "We have been monitoring the media reports of the series of character assassination meted to the owner of the Okoben Mining Company Limited, Nana Okoben Amponsah by some self seeking individuals and groups since the seasoned miner has started mining in our area. And we are not happy about the attacked meted to the man by the detractors."
They pointed out that "It is high time for use to speak. And we are telling the enemies of Nana Okoben Amponsah to leave him alone, saying that it disgraceful for the enemies to behave this way and we unreservedly condemn them.
They argued Nana Okoben Amponsah deserves better than the crude behavior from these sore losers.
"This is because Nana Okoben Amponsah is a development agent for Dominase and its adjoining communities. Nana Okoben Amponsah since he started mining in the area has has managed to endear himself to his host communities through his philanthropic work in the area of health, education, security, social welfare and water and sanitation," they explained.
They pointed out that there are records in the Dominase community that the operational activities of Okoben Mining Company Limited area were in the prescribed of Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (ACT 703) in Ghana.
The residents have given an accounts of the numerous contributions that Nana Okoben Amponsah has done to the development of the lives of the people in the community whose deserves to be commended.
According to them, the company has done a lot of corporate social responsibility projects and programmes to bring the development to the Dominase and adjoining communities in the municipality," the residents told journalists.
Currently, the residents disclosed that Nana Okoben Amponsah has constructed and handed over the mechanised boreholes water facilities to the people in three communities in the municipality.
They reiterated that Nana those polluting the Akonbra River and other water bodies are the illegal small scale miners, who are indiscriminately mining gold resources from communities such as Bamiankor, Ayinase, Amgbasea, Akango, Dualle and Akosono in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality.
Residents were speaking in an interview with some senior journalists to response to the allegations leveled against the company by some individual elements within the corridor of the power that the company mining activities were not following proper processes and procedures in the mining laws.
The critics raised as to the originality of the company’s licences and operating permits.
The challenges have been thrown to the gold mining firm to, immediately make the public all the mining lease licenses or permits it has obtained from the Minerals Commission, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other state mining regulatory institutions in the country.
The critics were challenging the company to make the public its mining lease licenses because they suspected that the officers contrived to grant the mining leases to Nana Okoben Amponsah-owner of the gold mining company for the Dominase Gold Mining Project, without following the proper due processes and procedures.
The company has recently come under intense pressure amid claims of carrying out illegal mining and polluting water bodies like the River Akonbra.
Although the company through its lawyers have constantly set the records straight by indicating its position and concerns of not involved in illegal mining as claimed, pressure is still coming in from certain quarters, calling on the company to give more information that will put all the allegations to rest.
People, particularly the concerned youths living in Dominase are beginning to raise doubts about whether the company is in good standings as far as its license is concerned and whether its licence has been renewed every year.
The people who are making these insinuations are also demanding to know the company’s legal standing with the Minerals Commission of Ghana.
According to them, although they are not challenging the authenticity of the license Okoben Mining Company Limited holds from the Minerals Commission and Environmental Protection Agency for its Dominase Gold Mining Project, and that this company operates in the manner prescribed in the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703.), they believe the company has not renewed its business operating license with the Minerals Commission for some time now.
This, they demand the company to prove to Ghananias.
Also, they are demanding for clarity on the relationship of the company with Ghana Chamber of Mines, stressing that all answers to all these questions could create a clear understanding in the minds of all as regards the operations of Okoben Mining Company Limited.
They suspected that these had compiled the state to halt the commercial mining activities of the company, pending possible revocation of the mining license of the company.
They noted that it is sole prerogative for the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources to grant the mining leases, subject to the parliamentary rectification, the process they challenged the company to come out and prove to the general public whether or not it has gone through.
They further dared the company to show out various receipts from the payment it made to the annual renew of the business operatiing permit with the Minerals Commission of Ghana.
But in a quick rebuttal, the residents have defended the company and called on the general public to immediately disregard the evil plot against the company.
They were making these good statements to
these journalists when they conducted the investigations in the offices of all the state mining regulatory institutions including the Mineral Commission and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to gather all the facts about the legality of the company's Dominase Gold Mining Project in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality.
These investigations were conducted
after the accusers/critics of the company have currently made a falsehood publication which goes viral on the social media platforms to the effect that the company is not an active mining company before the state has ordered its activities to be halted.
They claimed in their publication to know whether the company has been renewing its mineral business operations permit with Minerals Commission yearly but the checks in the offices of Minerals Commission have proved that the company is an active mining company.
However, this journalist has in possession of the loads of legal documents which clearly shows that the company has currently applied for the renewal of the business operatiing permit from the Minerals Commission in the year under review.
The processes to renew its business operation permit are currently ongoing in the Minerals Commission and that the company cannot be blamed for the delayed, according to the Head of Communications at Minerals Commission, Mr. Isaac Abraham.
Speaking in in an interview with this senior reporter to detail how the one year business operating license/ permit is being processed in the Commission, Mr Abraham noted that once the company has legally applied for the renew of the permit, it can be allowed to continue to go and mine in its concession.
He explained that mining is very capital expensive and halting the activities of the mining companies just because of delaying in renewing the one year business operating permit with the Minerals Commission would cause damage to the mines.
He affirmed that "So per the law or policy of the Minerals Commission, once the company applies for the renew of the permit, the Minerals Commission would allow the company to continue to mine before the license could be renewed."
The minerals operation by the mining companies required a mineral right and license and that the minerals business operations permit certificate is valid for one year from the date of issue.
However, the records and certified documents available to this journalist have showed that the company has secured a mining licence to undertake mining operations on the 31.5 kilometers square gold mining concession at Dominase Gold Mining Project.
The documents further indicated that the company has the mineral right to undertake mining operations in the area.
They are also series of evidences which have attested to the fact that the activities of the company in its mining concession at Dominase have not destroyed the River Ankobra and other water bodies as be claimed by its detractors in their recent publication.
According to the information from Minerals Commission of Ghana, the Okoben Mining Company Limited owned by Nana Okobeng Amponsah is active mines with its business operating license/ permit intact with the Minerals Commission.
The genuine securing of these legal mining documents of the company have rubbished the allegations leveled against Nana Okobeng Amponsah that his gold mining company has not been renewing its business operating permit with the Minerals Commission.
Mmmmmmmmmm
Addressing a cross section of journalists to set the record straight about the matter, the Chief Executive Officer of Okoben Mining Company Limited Nana Okobeng Amponsah has tendered series of certified documents to prove to his accusers/critics that indeed he has gone through legal and proper processes or procedures to secure the concession for the Dominase Gold Mining Project.
The seasoned miner stated that all the allegations leveled against him are false with reference to the latest one which suggest that the officers contrived to grant the mining lease to the company for the Dominase Gold Mining Project, without following the legal proper due processes and procedures.
He stressed the allegations were deliberate attempt by his critics to score their points.
He reaffirmed that since he secured legal environmental license and permit from the state mining regulatory institutions including Mineral Commission and Environmental Protection Agency to mine in his concession at Dominase, he has not violated the law and regulations regulating the activities of mining gold resources.
Nana Okobeng mentioned that those polluting the Akonbra River and other water bodies are the illegal small scale miners, who are indiscriminately mining gold resources from communities such as Bamiankor, Ayinase, Amgbasea, Akango, Dualle and Akosono in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality.
He stated that the people in these areas can testify that his company’s activities do not contribute to the pollution of the Akonbra River and other streams and rivers in the area.
“When you go to Dominase in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality, the people will tell you that I am against the pollution of water bodies by the galamseyers. I save water bodies from the illegal miners. I understand mining because that is where I’m coming from,” he stated.
He noted that he supported the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in fighting against illegal small scale mining by leading an anti-galamsey military task-force to some illegal concessions to clamp down on the activities of illegal miners in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality.
“I’m serving this notice to each and every one that my concession within Dominase is not responsible for the pollution of water bodies or the Akonbra River as far as mining activities are concerned in the area.
“Nobody should dare mention my name or the name of my company on any media platform or publication that we have polluted water bodies because there would be dire consequences for those who will try to tarnish my company’s name again in this regard,” he warned.
According to him, the allegations 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.
He 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.
"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 visited the illegal site of miners at Gwira-Ampasie to prevent the galamseyers of destroying the River Akonbra and environment but he has not fired gun shots to kill miners.
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 stated 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, the state has 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 dregs on the river Akonbra.
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.
