A missing docket is justice stolen – Kwaku Azar on Akonta mining case

Renowned US-based Ghanaian lawyer and legal scholar, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, popularly known as Kwaku Azar, has called for an independent investigation into the mysterious disappearance and recent reappearance of the Akonta Mining galamsey docket, which went missing for nearly four years.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, October 4, 2025, Prof Azar described the situation as more than a simple administrative lapse.

“The Attorney-General’s revelation that the docket has resurfaced is no routine administrative error; it is a scandal that strikes at the heart of justice,” he wrote.

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According to him, police reportedly completed their investigations into Akonta Mining's activities back in 2020, yet the docket vanished, only to resurface about two months ago.

“Dockets do not hide themselves; someone deliberately buried it. Until those behind the act are identified, the fight against galamsey and other high-level crimes remains a performance, not a policy”, he stated.

Prof Azar also cited contradictions in previous government statements on Akonta Mining’s activities.

He recalled that in 2023, the then Minister for Lands and Natural Resources stated that the company was operating illegally in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve, but the President countered that it was not engaged in illegal mining anywhere in the country.

“Who misled whom? And was that contradiction possible because the evidence had been tucked away?” he questioned.

He emphasised that the matter ‘cannot be business as usual,’ describing the missing docket as ‘justice stolen’.

Prof Azar urged the Attorney-General to commission a full, independent fact-finding probe to uncover who suppressed the file, who benefited, and whether similar cases exist.

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He further recommended reforms such as digitizing dockets, auditing case files, and holding officers accountable to prevent future occurrences.

“When justice leaves no paper trail, impunity flourishes, the issue must not be politicized. The hiding of police dockets is a red line that no democracy should ever cross. The Akonta docket is more than a file recovered; it is a mirror held up to the state”, he indicated.

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