Bernard Antwi-Boasiako alias Chairman Wontumi, NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman
The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi-Boasiako has refuted claims by the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Forestry Commission, Elikem Kotoko, that link him to illegal mining activities involving some Chinese nationals.
Elikem Kotoko, in a Facebook post, alleged that some Chinese illegal miners working on a site belonging to Akonta Mining owned by Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, widely called Chairman Wontumi, had been arrested by the Ghana Police Service.
“On the eve of Good Friday, just after wrapping up my working visit to the Ashanti Region, I joined an intelligence-led operation by the Ghana Police Service on behalf of the Forestry Commission of Ghana in a raid of about six illegal mining sites allegedly belonging to Akonta Mining (which is believed to be owned by the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi) in Samreboi, Western North Region.
“The exercise resulted in the arrest of 6 Chinese, 2 Koreans, and 18 Ghanaians. A total of 8 excavators were also taken, while 5 were abandoned at their locations due to mobility challenges,” he wrote.
Chairman Wontumi, in a quick riposte, has labeled these allegations as a “blantant lie” to associate him with illegal mining, locally known as galamsey.
Although he is the owner of Akonta Mining Limited, Antwi-Boasiako said in an interview with Wontumi FM and monitored by Ghanaweb that “I have a legitimate license to mine on my site but I have stopped mining in the area long ago due to what illegal miners did on my land”.
According to him, the only activity he has performed on his mining site is to pay for a contractor to “reclaim the land degraded by illegal miners” and “plant 15,000 coconut trees” on it.
He stressed he has neither a relationship with the illegal miners nor has his mining company harbored any.
“I have no idea who the illegal miners arrested by the police are and I am committed to protecting the environment of Ghana through legal mining despite Akonta Mining Limited not being in operation for some time now,” he vehemently denied Elikem Kotoko’s assertions.
AME
