The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has 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.