The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, has been caught on tape making certain confession that point to the fact that the government’s fight against illegal mining was nothing, but charade.
According to him, he has paid some $1million to have his licensed renewed to enable him start his mining activities.
It is, however, not clear which of the state agencies that collected the said $1million from the Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman to enable him go back to mining.
In a 51 minute voice recording, Mr. Boasiako popularly called ‘Wontumi’ was heard telling a group of persons that when Professor Frimpong-Boateng seized excavators, he never gave him an indication that some of the confiscated excavators from illegal miners were shared among certain persons.
“And Frimpong-Boateng who was brought from here came, they arrest all excavators but me alone they did not event give me one, not even one…. and nobody told me to go and do your work,” he said.
It is not clear whether Wontumi was expecting someone to go and embark on illegal mining or to go and embark on a legitimate mining business.
He was heard on the tape saying ‘’it was only last three weeks that I went [to] renew my license to enable [me] start my mining back because the mining was the thing that made me to have money to help; everyone was mining but since we came they could not give to me until I doled out money from my pocket….
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“There are people who are saying Wontumi has done some work, Wontumi has done some but Kofi Job too has done some work… If you are an NPP person and you are saying this… I want to say something,” he said.
Meanwhile, The Inquisitor has uncovered that Wontumi made the revelation when he was speaking to some selected NPP executives drawn from some constituencies in the region, as he gears up for re-election as the Regional Chairman.
Mr. Boasiako’s revelation comes at the time government has renewed and revitalized the fight against illegal mining that continues to destroy Ghana’s water bodies.
As part of moves to control illegal and small scale mining, the government has waged special war under the watch of the new Minister of Lands, Forestry and Natural Resource, Mr. Samuel Abu Jinapor.
Personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces just last week swooped on illegal miners along the Pra river and succeeded seizing heavy-duty mining equipment which were later burnt.
Further, the government has suspended prospecting and reconnaissance licenses in all forest reserves and water bodies across the country.
Source: The Inquisitor