The Investigator in the ongoing trial of Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has told the High Court in Accra that his investigation revealed Chairman Wontumi directed the mining activities in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve.
Chief Inspector Eugene Akpor Glover, the Investigator who is testifying as the 3rd Prosecution Witness, told the Court under cross-examination.
On Tuesday, lawyers of Chairman Wontumi, led by Andy Appiah-Kubi, while subjecting the witness to further scrutiny, told the witness that he did not see Chairman Wontumi personally give mining directions.
While admitting he had not seen him personally, he said his investigation established that Wontumi gave mining directions into the Tano Nimiri Forest.
Chairman Wontumi, Akonta Mining, Kwame Antwi, and Owusu Bempah have been charged together for undertaking illegal mining activities in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve in the Western Region.
Akonta Mining, as a company, is also facing charges of felling trees in a Forest Reserve without written authority from the competent forest authority and erecting buildings in a Forest Reserve without written authority from the competent forest authority, contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Forest Protection Act, 1974 (NRCD 243), as amended by Section 1 of the Forest Protection (Amendment) Act, 2002 (Act 624).
Chairman Wontumi is personally facing two separate counts of abetting the unauthorised felling of trees in a Forest Reserve, contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Forest Protection Act, 1974 (NRCD 243), as amended by Section 1 of the Forest Protection (Amendment) Act, 2002 (Act 624), and Section 20(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
They have pleaded not guilty and have been granted bail.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
