Lead legal counsel for Northern Ashanti Mines Limited, Erasmus Papa Akotey Quartey, has accused the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) of undertaking activities at the company’s Konongo concession that could undermine its ongoing legal challenge against the government.
Quartey said the company was concerned after television reports showed NAIMOS personnel and some Chinese nationals at the mining site, allegedly attempting to access CCTV surveillance footage and engage in conversations captured by the cameras.
Speaking on Joy News, he said the company had already initiated legal proceedings to challenge the revocation of its mineral and prospecting licences, which it considers unlawful.
He argued that any further action at the concession while the matter remained before the court could prejudice the judicial process and undermine the company’s interests.
“As you are aware, we are before the court to ventilate our issues, mainly because our clients in this matter believe that the purported revocation of the mineral licences and prospecting licences were all unlawful and were not done in accordance with the due processes of the law,” he said.
Quartey disclosed that the company had filed an application for an injunction against the Minerals Commission and other relevant parties, although the application had not yet been heard.
He explained that the company was scheduled to move the application on Thursday, but the hearing could not proceed because no judge had been assigned to the matter.
“We’ve not even had opportunity to move that application before a court. We were slated on Thursday, but unfortunately, no judge has been assigned to our matter as at last Thursday,” he stated.
The lawyer maintained that the filing of the court action should be sufficient notice to the relevant authorities to refrain from taking steps that could affect the disputed concession while the case was pending.
“The rational thing to do is to stay any intended process that you want to take pending the determination of the matter by the courts,” he said.
Quartey added that the company considered it necessary to formally draw the attention of the Minerals Commission to any activities that could affect its client’s rights at the site.
“If we get wind that NAIMOS and its officials and agents are undertaking activities that undermine our client’s rights and interests in that area, it’s within our duty to bring that to their attention and ask them to desist from any such act,” he added.
