District Chief Executive (DCE) for Atiwa East, Ernest Owusu Ntim
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Atiwa East, in the Eastern Region, Ernest Owusu Ntim, together with seven other men and an unidentified group, have been sued for engaging in illegal mining at the High Court in Koforidua.
The seven other accused are Philip Anokye Frimpong, the 2nd Defendant; Addei Frimpong, the 3rd Defendant; Richard Owuraku Ayim, the 4th Defendant; Victor Ntim Owusu, the 5th Defendant; Kwasi Asiedu, the 6th Defendant; Bismarck Osei Boakye, the 7th Defendant; and Zakari Yakubu, the 9th Defendant.
Court documents of the suit, which were shared by asaaseradio.com, accused the DCE and the other accused persons of invading the land of the plaintiff, who is the owner of the land in question, to engage in illegal mining activities (galamsey), destroying land and a water body.
The plaintiff, a company by the name Blacknake Security Service Limited, according to the documents, stated that it acquired the land in question from traditional authorities at Atiwa East for a housing project.
The company indicated that it entered into an agreement with some individuals who, under licence from the Chief of Ankaase, were cultivating agricultural produce on the land, to leave the land after harvesting their produce.
However, the DCE, who is the 1st Defendant in the case, and the other accused persons invaded the land and started illegal mining activities on it.
“Plaintiff states that, a few months after it had caused the licensees to cease cultivating on the land, it noticed that 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Defendants, who are widely known as notorious illegal miners within the Atiwa District, had unlawfully and without its consent and approval invaded the land together with 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Defendants, who work as their (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Defendants’) foremen, and other persons altogether engaging in galamsey activities on the land.
“Plaintiff says that as part of their galamsey activities, Defendants have recklessly, and without any regard whatsoever and or howsoever, graded and removed the topsoil of the land, dug holes, formed several piles of soil being carted from one part of the land to the other, and in the process, also destroyed almost all of the crops on the land. Plaintiff adds that by their unlawful activities, Defendants have created several dangerous uncovered pits on the land, putting its officer and persons engaged for its project at risk,” a part of the court document reads.
It added that; “Plaintiff states that, alarmed at the activities of Defendants on the land, its officers confronted 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Defendants about their unlawful destruction of the land, and they admitted having wrongfully entered the land without Plaintiff’s consent and approval; apologised and promised to remove their equipment and instruct their workers including 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Defendants to leave the land to a place they (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Defendants) had acquired for their mining activities.”
Meanwhile, the government has stated that any government official who is caught engaging in galamsey activities will be immediately dismissed and prosecuted.
“Even legal mining is not allowed for appointees, let alone illegal mining,” the Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, is quoted to have said on GTV’s Breakfast Show on Thursday, 8 May 2025.
BAI/AE
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