Ghana Coalition against Galamsey is mounting pressure on the Mahama government to urgently prosecute Chairman Wontumi’s Akonta Mining Ltd and guilty government officials over illegal mining in forest reserves and rivers.
According to the Coalition against Galamsey, they were assured of swift action, yet no arrest has been effected, nor prosecution.
The Ashanti Regional Chairman Wontumi of the NPP is known to be the owner of Akonta Mining Company Limited which is said to have been operating illegally in the Nimri Tano Forest reserve in the Amenfi West Municipality of the Western Region.
There have been calls for the prosecution of Chairman Wontumi for his operation in the forest reserve.
Ghana Coalition Against Galamsey in a statement stated, “We were assured of swift action against the directors of Akonta Mining and government officials found culpable through negligence or aiding and abetting. Yet no arrest has been effected, nor has prosecution commenced,” the statement read.
“The government must act decisively in accordance with Act 995 to demonstrate that no one is above the law,” the group asserted.
Their comment follows the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah revealed that he has authorized the Minerals Commission to take steps to revoke the lease of Akonta Mining Co. Ltd with immediate effect.
The Lands Minister in a press conference stated, “Some interviews conducted with a few residents indicate that the modus operandi of Akonta Mining is to use force to enter and destroy even the farmlands and produce of poor farmers in the area.
“Armed with this intel, on the eve of Good Friday (17th April 2025) an intelligence-led operation by the Ghana Police Service and the Forestry Commission led to the raid of six illegal mining sites linked to Akonta Mining”.
He added, “ Armed with this intel, on the eve of Good Friday (17th April 2025) an intelligence-led operation by the Ghana Police Service and the Forestry Commission led to the raid of six illegal mining sites linked to Akonta Mining.
The operation in Compartment 49, which began at 5 a.m. and lasted a whopping 12 hours, resulted in:
* 51 arrests (8 Chinese, 39 Ghanaian men, 4 Ghanaian women)
* Seizure of about 30 excavators, 5 recovered and impounded at the operation base
* 2 Pump-action guns loaded with 5 and 2 rounds of BB cartridges each, 1 single-barrel gun retrieved
* Confiscation of 2 Toyota Hilux pickups, 1 Toyota RAV4, 4 motorbikes, and a cache of mining equipment
Meanwhile, the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has frozen all of Wontumi’s accounts.
The FIC, as per a document sighted is acting in accordance with Section 56(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020.
“Freezing of accounts – 1. Bernard Antwi Boasiako (a.k.a. Chairman Wontumi) 2. Akonta Mining 3. Hallmark Civil Engineering Limited.
“In accordance with Section 56(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044), you are hereby directed to immediately freeze all accounts in relation to and in association with the above-named subjects pending further directives,” parts of a letter from the FIC read.
See the statement below:
