The Ghana Health Service has revoked an award presented to the Chief Executive Officer of Okobeng Mining Company Limited, Nana Okobeng Amponsah. Western Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service presented the award to the miner for his philanthropic work towards quality healthcare delivery in the Prestea Huni Valley Municipality of the Western Region on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at its Annual Performance Review in Takoradi. The award was presented to Nana Okobeng Amponsah by the Western Region Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah. However, in a release sighted by ghenvironment.com, the award has been revoked. Western Regional Director of Health Dr. Yaw Ofori Yeboah indicated in the release that the operations of Okobeng fall contrary to the principles of the Ghana Health Service. The statement adds that “after numerous complaints and evidence received by the Service on the operations of Okobeng Mining Company Limited, the award has been revoked”. Below is the full statement by the Ghana Health Service
The Okobeng Mining Company has over the past six years, been alleged to be engaging in illegal small-scale mining, otherwise known as “galamsey” in the Gwira Traditional Area in the Western Region and had destroyed cocoa farms and polluted the Ankobra River, the main source of drinking water for the people. It is also alleged that, the poisonous chemicals such as mercury and cyanide used by the mining company to extract gold had caused the people to suffer from skin diseases and other ailments. The company it is alleged had also refused to pay any compensation to farmers whose cocoa farms were destroyed due to the illegal mining activities while the lands degraded by the mining firm had not been reclaimed. Unhappy with the operations of the company, the President of the Gwira Traditional Council, Awulae Agama Tu-Agyan II in February this year re-affirmed the ban of Okobeng Mining Company from operating in the Gwira Traditional Area. It therefore came as a surprise to many people when the Ghana Health Service decided to award the CEO of the Company Nana Okobeng Amponsah. Meanwhile, some residents of the Gwira Traditional Area have welcomed the decision by the Ghana Health Service to withdraw the philanthropic award to the Okobeng CEO. In an interview with Ghenvironment.com, the residents urged government to completely ban the activities of the mining company to help save the polluted river Ankobra.