Atti-Morkwa Paramount Chief in court over alleged involvement in galamsey

Oseadeeyo Kwesi Kennin IV, the Paramount Chief of the Atti-Morkwa Traditional Area, has been ordered by a High Court in Kumasi to stop operating on a concession owned by Kadesh Mining Enterprise.

He was accused of participating in unlawful mining, or galamsey activities.

The management of Kadesh Mining Enterprise sued the Chief, claiming that he hired both Chinese and Ghanaian nationals for the illicit mining.

The company alleges that in spite of an ongoing injunction, the Chief and his colleagues have continued operating illegally on their concession.

Although it possesses the right permission to operate the concession, Kadesh Mining Enterprise has not yet started up.

The company, meanwhile, contends that the Chief lacks the authority to mine on their property.

The plaintiff's lawyer disclosed that they had conducted their own private investigations into the mining activity participants and found that the Chief was the main organizer of the galamsey activities.

“This client applied to Mincom for a licence to mine gold and then while the lease is subsistent, my client discovered that there was an illegal activity going on, on the land. So that was the reason why we issued the writ but before the was issued, we had private investigations into those who were involved in the mining activity. Now we came to discover that the Omanhene of Twifo Atti-Morkwa was the brain behind all these illegal activities,” a report by citinewsroom.com said.

In addition, the lawyer accused the Chief of attempting to claim ownership and authority over the area, stating that as Paramount Chief he had the right to mine without a permit.

The lawyer stressed that the Paramount Chief does not have the authority to enter the land and mine; only Kadesh Mining Enterprise does. The lawyer claims that the Chief is engaging in illicit mining on the property.

“It’s only my client who has the right to enter the land mine and not the Omanhene who claims that because he is and was the Omanhene of the area, he has every right to enter to mine with or without licence. We are saying that that is not the law and his activities on the law on the land constitute illegal mining.”

Requests to relocate the case to the Central Region, the site of the alleged actions, have been made by the defendants and their lawyer.

The plaintiff's lawyer contends that the matter ought to be heard in the Ashanti Region, citing the residence of two of the defendants in Kumasi.

The defendants' lawyer has remained silent on the issue.

KA

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