Shut-Up Okoben Is Responsible Mining Firm; Stop Comparing It To Akonta Mine! -Gwira Traditional Office Holders Fire At Critics

The prominent and accredited traditional office holders, including youths and residents in the  villages and towns in Gwira Traditional Area of the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality in the Western Region have broken silence by warning the Chief of Banso,Nana Ette Akrade II, Paramount Chief of Gwira, Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II and Chief of Abelebu, Nana Dominle Mieza II, to stop their continuous habits of inciting innocent youths to sabotage the Okoben Mining Company Limited without any wrong doing.

According to them, they aware that these three chiefs and their followers who ardent enemies of Nana Okoben Amponsah, the owner of Okoben Mining Company Limited have engineered the current publication which was appeared on the front page of The Anchor newspaper in its edition of Tuesday February 21, 2023, which has sabotaged Nana Okoben Amponsah and his company.

The publication, they stressed has compared the illegal mining brouhaha which has informed  the decision of the central government through the Minerals Commission of Ghana and Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to stop the commercial mining activities of Akonta Mining Company to the Okoben Mining Company Limited.

But defending the Okoben Mining Company Limited, aggrieved traditional office holders of Gwira stressed that the Okoben is responsible gold mining company which has been mining gold for many years on its concession at Dominase in Gwira without violating Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 Act 703.

And they warned Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II, Nana Ette Akrade II, Paramount Chief of Gwira, Nana Dominle Mieza II and followers to stop comparing Okoben Mining Company Limited to Akonta Mining Company, since what informed the decision of the government to ban the mining activities of Okoben Mining is far different from the cooked story made by these self seeking chiefs against Nana Okoben Amponsah and his company.

They pointed out that it is clearly shows that Awulae Angama Tu-Agyan II, Nana Ette Akrade II, Paramount Chief of Gwira and Nana Dominle Mieza II, have realized that their old aged evil plots hatched against Nana Okoben Amponsah and his company had backfired.

This has informed their decision to hide behind the faceless youths in Gwira, using them to mount pressure on Chief Executive Officer  (CEO) of Minerals Commission, Mr. Martin Kwaku Ayisi to implement the various statement made in their ill-fated petition to the government.

It would be recalled that some chiefs from Gwira Traditional Area,led by Awulae Agama Tuagyan have traveled from Gwira to Accra to petition the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Minerals Commission to revoke the License granted to the Okobeng Mining Company Ltd within the next 14 days.

Addressing Journalists in Accra, Awulae Agama Tuagyan alleged that the company, over the past six years, had engaged in illegal small-scale mining even though the license issued to the company was meant for prospecting.

He said the activities of the company have destroyed cocoa farms and polluted the Ankobra River, the main source of drinking water for the people, Awulae Agama Tuagyan said.

He added that the people are now suffering from all kinds of skin diseases and irreparable skin damage due to the poisonous chemicals such as mercury and cyanide used to extract Gold.

Omanhene said the company had also refused to pay any compensation to farmers whose cocoa farms were destroyed.

“When Nananom and the people started complaining, the company’s Managing Director, Mr Amponsah, used some methods to intimidate us with armed land guards and other offensive weapons.”

“The Company has never provided a single corporate social amenity to any community since it started operations in the traditional area about six years ago.”

“We once visited Okusuro, one of the villages, which had suffered massive degradation due to the company’s illegal mining activities. The armed land guards employed by Okobeng Mining Company chased us with cutlasses and guns…They destroyed our vehicles and useful items…In fact, we’ve become slaves on our own lands,” the Omanhene said.

The Traditional Council had petitioned the Minerals Commission, the Municipal Security Council, the Sector Ministry, the National Security, the Inspector-General of Police, and the Office of the President but nothing has been done about the matter.

He warned that if nothing was done, there is the likelihood that the youth might clash with the company’s armed land guards, which could be dangerous.

He called on the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Minerals Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, and Ghana Police Service to, within 14 days, withdraw any licence (s) granted the company to avoid any mishaps.

But in quick response, the traditional office holders in the persons of Adotenhene of Tumiatu in Gwira, Nana Kpole Antoanah V, Paramount Queen-mother of Gwira, Nana Adwoa Affiah, Principal Head of Amanrakpanyim Family of Gwria, Nana Alumenza lll and Tufuhene of Assuawuah in Gwira Traditional Area, Nana Addae Blay V have jumped to the defence of Nana Okoben Amponsah.

They pointed out that the petition of some disgruntled chiefs of the Gwira to Min­istry of Lands and Natural Resources and Lands Commission to probe gold mining activities of Okoben on its concession at Dominase in Gwira and uphold its decision to ban the company from undertak­ing mining activities in their area has died on the arrival since there are no iota of true in statements they made in their petition.

According to them, pieces of documentary envidence available to journalists indicate that the local gold mining company being owed by Ghanaian business mogul, Nana Okoben Amponsah has been complying the conditions and terms in the contractual agreement he signed with the government traditional authorities of the Gwira Traditional Area which has not violated the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 Act 703.

They noted that the gold company was committed to providing jobs, paying taxes and royalties, sourcing with local businesses, investing in community programmes and infrastructure.

They added that the company was also committed to strong and good corporate governance, multi-stakeholder engagement, and transparency around payments to local and central governments in order to increase accountability, develop trust, create mutual value and reduce corruption.

They added that per their records, the company has supported essential government services and programmes, and raised the standard of the people in its host communities within the Gwira Traditional Area.

The chiefs disclosed that the company first built two mechanised boreholes for the Gwira Asowa community, adding that one of the facilities is currently being used by the people in the community.

They noted that the other water facility was in its completion stage, adding that the company also built classroom building blocks for some schools in Gwira Traditional Area.

They said the company has assured them that when it finishes the construction of the boreholes, it would start to build a 10-seater ultra-modern water closet toilet facility for the community.

"The company is committed to paying royalists to the traditional authorities in Gwira Traditional Area including the custodial owners of the lands of where its concession is located in the municipality," they stressed.

They revealed that on January 1, 2013, Nana Okoben Amponsah brought his royalties to the Nananom of Gwira Stool.

"Nana Okoben Amponsah as we talking to you today, has made it clear that he brought part of his royalties to the Nananom." 

These royalists were even received by the chief linguist of Akpansie at the private residence of Nana Okoben Amponsah in Tarkwa," the chief disclosed.

"So when we heard that some chiefs came to Nzema FM and Accra to say that Nana Okoben Amponsah's company has destroyed river Ankobra and also failed to honour its agreement to pay royalties to the stool, these allegations came to me as a surprise," Nana Addae Blay V indicated.

"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 of accusing the company of engaging in illegal mining activities which they claim had polluted River Ankobra, streams and other river bodies on its gold concession at Dominase is a complete mischievous and one-sided vicious trial by the media.

To this end, the chiefs reiterated the call on President Akufo-Addo and general public to disregard the claims by Angama Tuagyan and his followers, saying that the traditional authorities of Gwira have not banned Okoben from mining on its gold mining concession at Dominase.