The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference has replied to President Nana Akufo-Addo’s claim that Akonta Mining, owned by NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako aka Chairman Wontumi, has not involved in unlawful mining in Ghana.
At the 28th National and 16th Biennial Congress of the National Union of Ghana Catholic Diocesan Priests Association in Koforidua on January 5, 2023, President Akufo-Addo stated that Akonta Mining Company Limited is not involved in illicit mining in Ghana.
I’ll address unlawful mining with the chairwoman. “I want to tell him and all of you that Akonta Mining is not engaged in any unlawful mining anywhere in Ghana as we speak,” President Akufo-Addo stated.
Most Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, President of the Catholic Bishop Conference in an interview with Sompa FM in Kumasi said “only time will tell if the President’s statement was true or false”.
We’ll trust the President’s word. When asked if the Catholic Bishop Conference agreed with President Akufo-Addo, he stated, “If what the President said is accurate, the truth will undoubtedly come out when investigators bring it out, but if it turns out to be untrue……”.
Most Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi also urged journalists to dig deeper to verify the president’s claims.
“It is up to you (journalists) to establish that truly what the President said correlates with what is actually happening on the ground or if Akonta Mining has still not stopped, then we will re-engage the President”.
The Catholic Bishops Conference urged the government to arrest and prosecute Akonta Mining’s owner in 2022 for illegal mining.
In his interview, Most Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi disclosed that the Bishops’ Conference relies on journalist, stakeholder, and other organization with investigations and reports to draw conclusions.
Most Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi suggested, “We have nothing to prove that what the President said yesterday was incorrect unless it later turns out that what is on the ground clash with what the President said”.
He added that the Catholic Bishop Conference declaration covered all illicit miners, not just Akonta Mining.
Meanwhile, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Abu Jinapor says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Akonta Addo’s Mining statement would not affect the Special Prosecutor’s investigations.
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