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Ablakwa, Land Ministry clash over Akufo-Addo’s ‘galamsey daughters’

Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has accused the daughters of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of involving in illegal mining activities through a company called Elite Minerals Company Limited in the Kwaebibirem Municipality, Eastern Region.

Ablakwa made this claim on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on September 27, 2024. The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, however, quickly refuted Ablakwa’s allegations on September 28, 2024, labeling them as “palpably false and without merit.”

According to the Ministry, Elite Minerals Company Limited was incorporated on July 25, 2008, and the company’s documents submitted to the Minerals Commission show that none of President Akufo-Addo’s daughters are shareholders or directors.

The Ministry also stated that the company’s mining lease in Kwaebibirem dates back to 2012 and is not within a forest reserve, contrary to Ablakwa’s claims. The North Tongu legislator countered the Ministry’s statement, asserting that the claim about Elite Minerals’ incorporation date was incorrect.

According to him, documents from the Registrar of Companies confirm that Elite Minerals was actually incorporated on April 22, 2014. He also denied the Ministry’s assertion that the company had a mining license from 2012, stating that Elite Minerals did not exist at that time.

Ablakwa accused the Ministry of misleading the public by claiming that the Kwaebibirem concession was not in a forest area. He questioned why the Ministry remained silent on the ownership of Elite Minerals, which he described as politically exposed and emphasized that the failure of the government to address the illegal mining problem (galamsey) may be due to the involvement of politically connected individuals.

He revealed that documentary evidence showed President Akufo-Addo’s daughters were granted a gold mining license for a concession in Kwaebibirem on March 22, 2024, which is set to expire in 2036. Another gold mining license was granted on November 28, 2023, for a concession in Prestea, Bonsa, and Huni Valley, expiring in 2053.

Additionally, the daughters allegedly received a lithium and gold prospecting license on July 11, 2023, for a concession in Gomoa Ngyiresi, Ekumfi, and Gomoa West in the Central Region, expiring in 2026.

Ablakwa stressed that Elite Minerals made revenues of GH¢ 53,884,844.33 from mining operations between 2021 and August 2024 but paid only GH¢132,000.00 in corporate income taxes, despite multiple defaults.

By bullet@24

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