Akonta Mining Company Limited has had all its mining licences revoked with immediate effect following damning revelations of illegal operations and criminal collusion in Ghana’s protected forest reserves.
At a press conference in Accra on Monday, April 21, 2025, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, announced the decision, citing “overwhelming evidence” of the company’s involvement in galamsey activities and the facilitation of unauthorised mining.
“This company has not only trespassed into protected reserves but has become a criminal syndicate, selling access to the Aboi Forest Reserve to illegal miners for a staggering GH₵300,000 per concession,” Mr Buah stated. “Worse, these illegal miners operate under Akonta’s protection, devastating the River Tano and surrounding forests with impunity.”
Akonta Mining Company Limited was established in June 2011 and initially granted a reconnaissance license to operate in the Samreboi area of the Western Region. The company was later awarded a prospecting license in December 2012 and subsequently a mining lease for areas outside protected forest reserves.
However, this is not the first time Akonta Mining has come under scrutiny. In September 2022, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources ordered the company to halt operations in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve, asserting that Akonta lacked the requisite mineral rights to operate within the reserve. The Minerals Commission also confirmed that the company had no valid permit for that area, despite holding leases elsewhere. By October 2022, the then Deputy Minister George Mireku Duker reported that Akonta had vacated the forest following the Ministry’s directive, and investigations were said to be underway at the time.
Despite this prior enforcement, the recent investigations revealed the company’s continued and more elaborate encroachment into the same protected reserve, confirming fears of impunity and criminal collusion.
According to Mr Buah, the latest undercover investigation exposed a wider scheme involving the company’s illegal expansion into these protected forests. Company representatives, he said, had been caught negotiating secret sub-leases to illegal miners.
In exchange, Akonta reportedly received weekly payments of up to 250 grams of gold from these illegal operators. The Minister revealed that several other actors, including security officials and staff from the Forestry Commission, had also been implicated.
“Part of the GH₵300,000 fee goes to Akonta Mining, a portion goes to individuals identified as Mr Henry and ‘Shark,’ and another portion to some forestry and security officials who provide protection and tip-offs,” he revealed.
He noted that Akonta Mining had unlawfully encroached on compartments 49 and 121 of the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve without any valid lease or entry permit.
On the eve of Good Friday, April 17, an intelligence-led raid by the Ghana Police Service and the Forestry Commission targeted six illegal mining sites linked to the company. The 12-hour operation in Compartment 49 resulted in 51 arrests, including eight Chinese nationals, and the seizure of heavy machinery, vehicles, and weapons.
Items recovered included 30 excavators (five impounded), two pump-action guns, one single-barrel gun, two Toyota Hilux pickups, a Toyota RAV4, four motorbikes, and various mining equipment. All suspects are now in custody in Accra, pending prosecution.
Mr Buah said he had instructed the Minerals Commission to revoke Akonta Mining’s lease immediately. He also directed the interdiction of all implicated forestry officials while investigations continue.
He further declared the government’s continued resolve to eliminate illegal mining in the country, branding it an “environmental sin against humanity and against God.”
“To the youth engaged in illegal mining: there is a better way. We stand ready to support you with alternatives. But to those who persist in defiance, the state will act without mercy,” he warned.
