Okoben Mine Has Not Issued Dull Cheques To Defraud Elders In Gwira On Payment  Of The Compensation Packages -Adotenhene Exposes Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan

The Adotenhene of Tumiatu in the Gwira Traditional Area in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality of the Western Region, Nana Kpole Antoanah V, has broken silence by rubbishing what he terms as a completely fake news and biggest lies being peddled by some prominent traditional office holders against the gold mining activities of Okoben Mining Company Limited.

He stressed that these falsehoods and blatant lies against the local gold mining company were perpetrated by the embattled Paramount Chief of the area, Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II and his followers who accused the company of issuing dull cheques to defraud the elders and farmers/ residents in relation of paying crops and lands compensation packages.

Consequently, Nana Kpole Antoanah V denied claimed by Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II,which goes viral that the traditional authorities of Gwira have banned the Okoben Mining Company Limited from mining gold resources on its concession at Dominase and dared Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan and other chiefs who are peddling these falsehoods against the company to come out publicly to invoke the gods to prove that they are not lying against the company.

"The Okoben Mining Company Limited being owned by Nana Okoben Amponsah has done no wrong. 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 never had the traditional locus and power to do so as far the traditions, norms and 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 of concession that the company has secured to mine the gold in the Gwira Traditional Area. So these fake news and biggest lies peddled around against the company by Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II and his followers are completely violation of the traditions, customs and norms of the Gwira Traditional Stool. We saying that 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 rather 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 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. The company is 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 and his New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

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.