Dennis Miracles Aboagye, Director of Communications for the 2024 Bawumia Campaign Team, has criticised the timing of a press conference held by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, on the alleged involvement of Akonta Mining in galamsey.
He called it premature and miscalculated.
On Tuesday, April, the Lands Minister held a press conference in the wake of an intelligence-led operation by the Ghana Police Service and the Forestry Commission on April 17, which led to the arrest of 51 individuals allegedly linked to illegal mining operations associated with Akonta Mining Company Ltd.
The minister noted that the arrests followed months of undercover investigations, which reportedly uncovered Akonta Mining’s involvement in illegal mining activities within protected forest reserves.
Consequently, the minister announced the immediate revocation of the company’s mining lease.
However, speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Tuesday, April 22, Miracles Aboagye questioned the minister’s decision to go public before legal processes were initiated.
“You didn’t even have to come and do this press conference yet, it is always a challenge. But this is one of the problems with us, the politicians. When we get the news, we get excited, and if care is not taken, there will be an anti-climax.
“By the time we realise, we will come here and be asking, ‘what happened to Akonta Mining’. By then, you would have realised that there is little to no evidence. There is a difference between referring to someone as a smoker and actually showing the evidence to prove the same,” he stated.
He emphasised the importance of building a solid legal case before public announcements are made, drawing parallels to similar situations in the past that ended without resolution.
“I would have thought that instead of coming to do this PR, you have the people in your custody. Get all your facts, gather all your evidence and let the first news event be at the time you are in court with them. Then we can have a conversation. Otherwise, what happened yesterday, we have had similar ones in 2022,” he stated.
51 arrested, weapons and equipment seized in raid on Akonta mining – Lands Minister
