‎Investigator defends methods in Tano Nnimire mining trial

A police investigator has told an Accra High Court that he inherited an incomplete docket in the alleged illegal mining case involving Bernard Antwi Boasiako and Akonta Mining Company Limited.‎ ‎ ‎Detective Chief Inspector Akpo Glover said he studied the docket before continuing the investigations and did not alter any part of the inherited records.‎ ‎ ‎He was testifying under cross-examination in the ongoing trial of Boasiako, a former Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and Akonta Mining Company Limited. ‎ ‎ ‎Detective Chief Inspector Glover, who has 17 years of policing experience, rejected the suggestion that his understanding of the case was based on “second-hand information”.‎ ‎ ‎”My understanding of this case is as a result of various methods of investigation the police conducted.

They include interviews with witnesses, visits to crime scenes, drone surveillance and review of documents,” he said. ‎ ‎ ‎The investigator said two prosecution witnesses had stated in their caution statements that Akonta Mining erected barriers and side poles in the Tano Nnimire Forest to prevent people, including Forestry Commission officials, from entering the reserve.‎ ‎ ‎He said his investigations implicated Boasiako and Akonta Mining in the alleged illegal mining activities.‎ ‎ ‎Detective Chief Inspector Glover also disputed a suggestion by defence counsel, Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, that letters written to the Western Regional Security Council over alleged illegal mining on Boasiako’s concession demonstrated opposition to illegal mining by those involved.‎ ‎ ‎He maintained that agents of Boasiako and Akonta Mining had acted in their own interests in the Tano Nnimire Forest.‎‎ ‎ ‎The investigator recalled that the letter to the Western Regional Security Council was dated June 2021.‎ ‎ ‎The court adjourned the case to October 27, 2026.‎ ‎Boasiako and Akonta Mining face charges over alleged mining operations without a licence in the Tano Nnimire Forest Reserve in the Western Region.‎ ‎ ‎The prosecution alleged that the accused persons felled about 300 merchantable trees in the reserve and erected structures without written permission from the Forestry Commission.‎ ‎ ‎Boasiako, a 50-year-old entrepreneur, has denied the charges. ‎He is serving a 20-year prison sentence for a similar offence. ‎