Martin Kpebu, a private legal practitioner has described the comments by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Akonta Mining as unfortunate.
He said the president’s comment on the mining firm owned by the New Patriotic Party’s Ashanti Regional Chairman could have been avoided.
Mr Kpebu said President Akufo-Addo could have even put it in a different way.
Speaking on Accra based TV3, he said: “At this stage, considering that we presented a petition to the CID and the CID are investigating Chairman Wontumi and his co-director and Akonta Mining for illegal mining, it’s certainly with bad posturing for the president to have waded the way he did.
“He could have said this in a different manner because with what the President has stated, though on the face of it he seems to be saying that currently Akonta Mining does not engage in illegal mining, considering the context, it’s going to be spinned.”
He said the comments have the tendency to demoralise the CID from going ahead with its investigation.
Addressing the issue when it was raised by the chairperson of the 28th National and 16th Biennial Congress of the National Union of Ghana Catholic Diocesan Priests Association held in Koforidua, President Akufo-Addo said the mining firm was not engaged in any illegal mining anywhere in Ghana.
“Let me respond briefly to the chairperson on the issue of illegal mining. I want to assure him and all of you that Akonta Mining is not engaged in any illegal mining anywhere in Ghana as we speak.”
The issue is, however, before the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) under investigations while the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) has also been petitioned by some civil society organisations.
Pulse
