Private Legal Practitioner, Martin Kpebu has commended the Lands Minister, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah for revoking the mining lease of Akonta Mining Company.
Martin Kpebu had in the past together with other persons petitioned the Inspector General of Police to investigate Akonta Mining Company for mining in the Tano Nimri Forest which petition did not succeed.
At a press briefing in Accra on April 21, 2025 the Minister revoked Akonta’s lease, ordered the interdiction of implicated forestry officials, and triggered investigations by the security agencies and the Attorney-General’s office.
Speaking in an interview on TV3’s New Day’s Big Issue, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, Martin Kpebu urged the Minister to proceed with investigations for prosecution of persons responsible for the unlawful act.
“We just hope that this is the last, Armah Kofi Buah should be commended for taking this bold step. Even the revocation of the mining lease alone in itself is far-reaching but let the prosecutions flow because when we set an example of Chairman Wontumi it will send a chilling effect to the other people because then it appears Wontumi is invincible.
“We encourage the Minister to go the nine yards and make sure that the investigations lead to prosecution,” he stated.
Martin Kpebu further noted that the revocation of the mining lease wouldn’t have happened without a change in government.
“If we hadn’t change government, was it Akufo-Addo who was going to revoke Chairman Wontumi’s license? When he Akufo-Addo was giving Akonta Mining so much succour,” he said.
During his press conference, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, exposed what he described as a well-organized criminal syndicate operating under the name of Akonta Mining Company Ltd.
Though the company was legally granted a lease to mine off-reserve, the Minister revealed that Akonta Mining had illegally invaded protected forest reserves in the Samreboi enclave of the Western North Region — selling access to the Aboi Forest Reserve for GHC 300,000 per concession, collecting 250 grams of gold weekly in royalties, and protecting illegal miners who devastated the Tano River and forest compartments with impunity.
He announced that a 12-hour intelligence-led raid on Good Friday led to the arrest of 51 people, including eight Chinese nationals, the seizure of 30 excavators, weapons, vehicles, and mining equipment.
