Elikem Kotoko (L) claims Wontumi (R) called and offered to meet in Kumasi after anti-galamsey raid
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Elikem Kotoko, has opened up on a phone call he got from the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi, who has been slapped with six criminal charges over the illegal mining allegations against him and his company, Akonta Mining Limited.
Speaking in a recent interview on Joy Prime, Elikem Kotoko indicated that the phone call came after security officials busted people engaging in illegal mining at a site that belonged to Akonta Mining Limited at Samreboi in the Western Region.
He said that to date, he is still trying to understand why Wontumi called him after the incident in Samreboi, which is in the Tano Nimri Forest Reserve.
“I’m still wondering why Chairman Wontumi called me one day after the Samreboi incident, something I never spoke about. (Wontumi said) ‘Hello, Elikem, this is Chairman Wontumi.’ I said, ‘Aha’,” he narrated.
The Deputy CEO claimed that the NPP regional chairman thought it was going to be a ‘friendly’ conversation, but after realising he (Elikem) was in no mood to entertain him, he (Wontumi) became frustrated.
He added that Wontumi then offered to meet him in Kumasi.
He quoted Wontumi as having said the following words: “Oo, Elikem, why are you doing this to me? Your boss is my friend. When are you going to come to Kumasi so we sit and talk?”
Elikem Kotoko suggested that Wontumi had a sinister motive, saying, “What was he calling me for? I never said this anywhere, but I’ve decided… He has never called me, not even when I won my elections.”
The Deputy CEO went on to say that he is not surprised by the legal challenges the NPP regional chairman is facing because he was alleged to be a kingpin in the galamsey menace.
“Who didn’t know that if you want to mention names, he was one of the number one people who probably was perceived to be leading people into the forest, into the places, because he saw himself as the greatest kingpin and all — nobody comes through the mine except through me, Wontumi,” he said.
Watch video of his remarks below:
BAI
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