The Chief Executive Officer of Okoben Mining Company, Nana Okoben Amponsah, through his lawyers, Gaisie Zwennees Hughes & Co in Takoradi, has written a strong worded letter to the editors of The Anchor and Inquisitor newspapers.
The letter has requested that the two newspapers retract and render an unqualified apology to Mr Amponsah for publishing lies and libellous stories against him.
The embattled two private print media companies which are operating in Accra were served with the letter by Nana Amponsah through his lawyers, led by Philip Fiifi Buckman on Wednesday November 23, 2022.
This was after the two newspapers had published that Nana Amponsah and his licensed gold mining company were involved in illegal mining activities which have polluted River Akonbra.
The two private newspapers have also published series of libellous stories against the miner to the effect that he has fired gun shots at small scale miners at the illegal gold site at Gwira-Ampasie in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality of the Western Region.
Also cited on the Wednesday December 28, 2022 letter are the two Editors-in-Chief of the Anchor and the Inquisitor newspapers.
The publications in these newspapers, Mr Amposah deems defamatory hence his decision to sue his accusers/defendants should they fail to comply with the instructions in the later.
Nana Amponsah wants the editors of the two media companies to retract and apologize for their role in spreading the false claims.
Nana Amponsah, according to information available to journalists stated that the words complained off are absolutely false, products of the defendants’ imagination and were mischievously designed by the defendants to disparage him, stain his reputation, court public disaffection for him and to bring him into abhorrence in the eyes of right-thinking members of the public and the global community.
The Ghanaian business mogul, journalists gather, maintained that his reputation has been “violently damaged” and stated the two media companies did not give him a chance to respond to the allegations.
However the letter of the demand notice to the editors of the two media companies which was intercepted by this news outlet reads in part; “our client informs us that his attention has been drawn to an article your newspaper published in the Friday 16, December- Sunday, 18 2022 edition of your newspaper, carried on the front page which has the caption “Okoben Mines Invades Ankobra River bank’ …” Water Bodies Heavily Polluted.”
While The Anchor newspaper wrote on Tuesday December 20 and Wednesday December 21, 2022 with the same caption, “Okoben Mines Invades Akonbra River bank’ …” Water Bodies Heavily Polluted.”
“Your publication therefore comes as a surprise and that our client is at a great loss as to your motivation in the publication of the false news which has the tendency of bringing the client’s firm into dispute.
We have our client’s instructions to demand a retraction of the said publication in the manner the publication was made and also for you to render an unqualified apology to him and you have not later than January 31, 2022 to do so without fail.
Take notice and notice is hereby given that should you fail so to retract and render an unqualified apology to our client within same time, we shall have no option than to take a legal action against you and seek appropriate redress from the court,” the letter concluded.
It would be recalled that Nana Okobeng Amponsah, has debunked media reports which have gone viral on social and traditional media platforms to the effect that he has fired gunshots at small scale miners at an illegal gold mining site at Gwira-Ampasie.
“I want to set the records straight today that these allegations leveled against him and my company are completely false, unfounded and cooked up. Having being the loyal and law abiding citizen who has dully registered and secured the certified necessary legal licenses or documents from the various state mining regulatory institutions including the Minerals Commission and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and have been mining gold resource for the past twenty-five (25) years in Ghana, l would be the last person to do something to destroy River Akonbra and water bodies. I respect the water bodies.
“I dare anyone who knows the concession to go and verify how my company carries out responsible gold mining activities and see if its mining activities are destroying water bodies as being claimed by my detractors,” Nana Okobeng added.
While admitting that he fired a gun, he said it was to ward off illegal miners who at the time were pelting stones at him and Nana Adu who had visited the site of the illegal miners at Gwira-Ampasie.
He said it was part of their efforts to prevent illegal mining activities which have been polluting River Akonbra and other water bodies in the region.
Nana Okobeng Amponsah stated that he has legally acquired a 31.5 kilometre square gold mining concession at Dominase in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality of the Western Region.
But he indicated that the recent allegations levelled against him that he fired gunshots to kill those two miners were completely untrue and unfounded.
Below is the letter:
