Head of legal and political desk at Asaase Wilberforce Asare has questioned the legal reasoning behind the conviction of Chairman Wontumi, arguing that mining activities carried out on a legally acquired concession should not automatically be classified as illegal mining.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (21 July), Asare said his principal difficulty with the judgment lay in the interpretation of the Minerals and Mining Act as applied to the facts of the case.
“Mining on a legally acquired concession cannot be referred to as illegal mining,” he said.
According to Asare, once a mining concession has been lawfully granted, any breach relating to the assignment of mining rights or the engagement of third parties should ordinarily constitute an administrative infraction unless there is evidence that mining occurred outside the boundaries of the concession or in breach of specific criminal provisions.
“If you assign somebody else to mine on that concession and you were supposed to obtain additional permission, that can only amount to an administrative infraction,” he argued.
He likened the situation to a person entering a workplace through a different entrance or using different equipment after having been lawfully authorised to be on the premises, saying such conduct would not ordinarily invalidate the person’s right to be there.
Asare maintained that Wontumi legally acquired the concession and that, based on the facts available to him, the mining operations complained of were conducted within the concession area rather than outside it.
“Unless we are saying that granting someone a concession is not sufficient to guarantee that the mining they undertake is legal, then that is where my challenge lies,” he said.
While acknowledging that others may disagree with his interpretation, Asare said the issues raised by the case underscore why the judgment is likely to attract continued legal scrutiny.
He added that appellate proceedings would provide an opportunity for higher courts to determine whether the trial court correctly interpreted the relevant provisions of Ghana’s mining legislation.
The High Court convicted Wontumi on charges connected to mining operations conducted through Akonta Mining and sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment, a decision his legal team is expected to challenge on appeal.
Source: asaaseradio.com
