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 lies and libelous stories against him.
Nana Okobeng Amponsah served the letter on Wednesday, December 23, 2022, through his lawyers led by Philip Fiifi Buckman to the embattled two private print media companies operating in Accra.
This came after two newspapers reported that Nana Okobeng Amponsah and his licenced gold mining company were engaged in illegal mining activities that polluted the Akonbra River.
The two private newspapers have also published ”a series of libellous” stories against the seasoned miners, alleging that he fired gunshots at small-scale miners at the illegal gold site at Gwira-Ampasie in the Western Region’s Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipality.
The two editors-in-chief of the Anchor and the Inquisitor newspapers are also mentioned in the letter dated Wednesday, December 28, 2022.
The publications in these newspapers are deemed defamatory by the Chief Executive Officer of Okobeng Mining Company, prompting him to threaten to sue his accusers/defendants if they do not comply with the instructions in the latter.
Nana Okobeng Amponsah wants the editors of the two media companies he has threatened to sue to retract and apologise for their role in disseminating false information.
According to information available to journalists, Nana Okobeng Amponsah stated that the words complained about are completely false, the product of the defendants’ imagination, and were purposefully designed by the defendants to disparage him, stain his reputation, court public disaffection for him, and bring him into abhorrence in the eyes of right-thinking members of the public and the global community.
The Ghanaian businessman maintained that his reputation had been “violently harmed,” and that the two media outlets had not given him an opportunity to respond to the allegations.
However the letter of the demand notice to the editors of the two media companies which was intercepted by this news outlet equally reads in part;” 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 your newspaper published in the Friday, December 16, 2022-Sunday, December 18, 2022 edition, the front of which has the caption “Okoben Mines Invades Akonbra River bank’…”
In a separate demand notice letter to The Anchor newspaper the lawyers, the newspaper reported on Tuesday, December 20- Wednesday, December 21 2022 with the same caption “Okoben Mines Invades Akonbra River bank’ …” Water Bodies Heavily Polluted.”
It an instruction which we hereby do to bring to your attention that our client, Okoben Mines” is a law-abiding mining firm whose operations are guided by the tenets of the law covering the activity.
“Your publication, therefore, comes as a surprise, and that ours is 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 us and you have not later than 31, 2022 so to do without more.
Take notice and notice is hereby given to that should you fail so to retract and tender an unqualified apology to us within same time, we shall have no option than to take legal action against you and seek appropriate redress from the court,” the letter concluded.
It would be recalled that Nana Okobeng Amponsah, has debunked media reports which have gone viral on social and traditional media platforms to the effect that he has 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 been 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 resources 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.
“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 who had visited the site of the illegal miners at Gwira-Ampasie.
He said it was part of their efforts to prevent illegal mining activities which have been polluting River Akonbra and other water bodies in the region.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
