The Chief Executive Officer of Okoben Mining Company, Nana Okoben Amponsah, through his lawyers Gaisie Zwennees Hughes & Co in Takoradi, has written a strongly-worded letter to the editors of The Anchor and The Inquisitor newspapers to retract and tender an unqualified apology to him for publishing what he says were lies and libelous stories about him.
The embattled two private print media companies, operating in Accra, were served with the letter by Nana Okobeng Amponsah through his lawyer led by Philip Fiifi Buckman.
This was after the two newspapers had published that Nana Okobeng Amponsah and his licensed gold mining company were involved in illegal mining activities, which have polluted River Ankobra.
The two private newspapers had also published series libelous stories against the seasoned miner that he fired gun shots at small scale miners at his “illegal” gold site at Gwira-Ampasie in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality of the Western Region.
Also cited in the Wednesday, December 28 letter are the two Editors-In-Chief of the Anchor and the Inquisitor newspapers.
The publications in these two newspapers the Chief Executive Officer of Okobeng Mining Company deems defamatory, hence his decision to threaten to sue them if they failed to comply with the instructions in the letter.
Nana Okobeng Amponsah wants the editors of the two media companies to retract and apologize for their role in spreading the false claims.
According to information available, Nana Okobeng Amponsah considers the publications “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, 3news.com gathers, maintains that his reputation has been “violently damaged” and stated the two media companies did not give him a chance to respond to the allegations.
“We write as the lawyers for and on behalf of our client, Nana Okoben Amponsah, the Chief Executive Officer of Okoben Mines.
“Ours inform us that his attention has been drawn to the your newspaper published in the Friday 16, December- Sunday, 18 2022 edition the front of which has the caption Okoben Mines Invades Akonbra River bank …Water Bodies Heavily Polluted.”
In a separate demand notice to The Anchor newspaper, the lawyers cited the newspaper’s report on Tuesday, December 20-Wednesday December 21 2022 with the same caption Okoben Mines Invades Akonbra River bank …Water Bodies Heavily Polluted.
“It is our instruction which we hereby do to bring to your attention that our client, Okoben Mines” is a law abiding mining firm whose operation is guided by the tenets of the law covering the activity.
“Your publication therefore comes as a surprise and that ours is a 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 ours and you have not later than 31, 2022 so to do without more.
“Take notice and notice is hereby giving to that should you fail so to retract and tender an unqualified apology to ours 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 had debunked media reports to the effect that he had 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,” he had said.
“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, whom he had visited the site of the illegal miners at Gwira-Ampasie with.
He said it was part of their efforts to prevent illegal mining activities which have been polluting River Ankobra 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.