A former Managing Director of Akonta Mining Limited, Edward Akwasi Akuoko, has said that his company did not secure all the necessary permits to mine in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve.

According to him, the owner of the company, Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi), who is also the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party(NPP), did not complete the processes that would allow the company to mine in the forest reserve.

He said that Akonta Mining had no concession in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve, which, he added, Chairman Wontumi himself has attested to.

“The case against myself and Chairman Wontumi is not about the concession of Akonta Mining; it is about the Tano Nimiri Forest.

“And for the Tano Nimiri Forest, Chairman Wontumi did not complete the process to acquire a concession. That is a fact, and he himself has admitted it. So, that place was not his concession. This is all I can say,” Akwasi Akuoko said.

Details of second case that led to Chairman Wontumi’s rearrest

Akwasi Akuoko, who has become a prosecution witness, also refuted assertions that he has betrayed Wontumi with his decision to testify for the state.

He asserted that no logical person would elect to rot in jail for a crime he or she did not commit.

“I have not betrayed anyone. Anybody who says this does not have any regard for me. Maybe that person is a relative of Chairman Wontumi — he thinks more about Chairman Wontumi than me.

“Anybody who says this should think about this: if I were your brother or husband, would you want me to go to jail because of Chairman Wontumi? If you can answer fairly, then I say that you are very fair in your assessment,” he said.

Akwasi Akuoko also said that he decided to resign from the company after he suspected that some fishy deals were going on in the company.

Chairman Wontumi, Akwasi Akuoko, and three other accused persons — Owusu Bempah and Kwame Antwi, the Director of Akonta Mining Limited, who remains at large — were slapped with a total of seven criminal charges for allegedly conducting illegal mining activities in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve.

Below are details of the charges:

Count 1: Undertaking mining operations without a licence — Wontumi pleaded not guilty.

Count 2: Undertaking mining without a licence — Wontumi and Kwame Antwi; Wontumi pleaded not guilty.

Count 3: Undertaking mining operations without a licence — Akwasi Akuoko and Owusu Bempah; Edward pleaded not guilty, while Owusu Bempah is at large.

Count 4: Felling trees in a forest reserve without a licence — Akonta Mining allegedly felled over 300 trees in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve; Wontumi pleaded not guilty.

Count 5: Abetting unauthorised felling of trees — Wontumi, Kwame Antwi, Akwasi Akuoko, and Owusu Bempah; Wontumi and Edward pleaded not guilty.

Count 6: Erecting buildings in a forest reserve without a licence — Akonta Mining allegedly erected buildings in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve in 2022 without Forestry Commission approval; Wontumi pleaded not guilty.

Count 7: Abetting unauthorised erection of buildings in a forest reserve — Wontumi, Kwame Antwi, Edward Akuoko, and Owusu Bempah; Wontumi and Akwasi Akuoko pleaded not guilty.

Watch a video of his remarks below: