I paid no bribe to retrieve my excavators – Francis Awuku

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of F.A. Minerals, a licensed Small Scale Mining Company, Mr Francis Awuku has refuted allegations that he paid bribes to officials of the Atwima Kwanwoma District Assembly to facilitate the release of his mining equipment

It was recently reported on abusuafmonline.com that the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Atwima Kwanwoma District, Nana Okyere Tawiah Antwi, his Coordinating Director and District Finance Officer (DFO) received about GHC700, 000 to as bribes in order to release the mining equipment that had been confiscated and parked at the Assembly.

But in a sharp rebuttal, the CEO explained that he applied to the Assembly to release his excavators, which have been parked at Foase for safety after receiving intelligence that some unscrupulous persons were planning to burn them if the Assembly decided to relocate the machines to Twedie, the newly disputed capital of the District in the raging controversy.

According to him, the purported story is malicious and wicked because he is not a Chinese and has no business to do with any Chinese or Chinese company.

He added that the story is a smear campaign to tarnish his reputation and that of the DCE and his staff threatening legal action against the portal if it fails to retract and apologise.

Below is what was published by the portal

Information available to Abusuafmonline.com indicates that, some Chinese miners whose excavators were seized in the Atwima Kwanwoma District in the Ashanti Region have paid Seven Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis GHS700, 000 to the District Assembly for the release of their confiscated excavators.

A deep throat source at the District Assembly who spoke to Abusua Fm’s Osei Kwadwo on condition of anonymity confirmed that, somewhere in January this year the Atwima Kwawoma District Assembly seized 12 excavators from some illegal Chinese miners in the area and conveyed them into the district assembly.

According to the source, just some few days ago, he realized that the Chinese miners have paid an amount of Seven Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis GHS700, 000 to the assembly for the release of the confiscated excavators.

”Some Assembly members had a meeting with the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Atwima Kwanwoma District, Nana Okyere Tawiah Antwi, Coordinating Director and District Financial Officer (DFO) and they took the said money from them’’.

‘’The Chinese Miners paid Seven Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC700, 000) before the excavators were released to them that I can tell you’’.

The source, however, revealed that the illegal Chinese miners immediately conveyed the excavators back to their various mining sites in constituencies such as Nweneso No 1 and 2 and have started mining despite government’s ban on galamsey.

Nana Okyere Tawiah Antwi, District Chief Executive for the Atwima Kwanwoma District when contacted however admitted his outfit has indeed released the 12 excavators which were detained months ago to the Chinese Miners.

He indicated it became necessary for the confiscated excavators to be released to the owners following the recent clash between residents of Foase and the over a district capital relocation from Foase to Twedie.

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He claimed the assembly hurriedly released the excavators allay fear of being set ablaze by the irate Foase residents but admitted that the District Assembly collected an undisclosed amount of money from the Chinse as ‘’penalty’’,

Speaking to some residents of the Nweneso community, they disclosed that some Chinese Miners are still in their community doing mining seriously despite the ban against galamsey by President Akufo Addo.

According to them, some excavators came to the community this month with police escort to their various mining sites.

“We are appealing to Operation Vanguard, government to be more proactive in the fight against galamsey because we know there are some Chinese who are still operating in our community destroying our lands and rivers”.