There was a bombshell inside the courtroom before Robert Boazor Tampoare was granted bail in the sum of Gh¢800,000 ($70,934) with two sureties on Friday, 21 July 2023.
The small-scale miner is standing criminal trial for “Fraudulent Breach of Trust” in Ghana’s Upper East Region.
Before the office of the Justice and Attorney-General’s Department arraigned him, it was public knowledge that the Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu, was involved in how the accused person fraudulently breached the complainants’ trust.
The complainants—Abdulai Amiyelug, Matthew Tindanzie, Kennedy Beugzuuga and Aduko Atuluga— and some other individuals co-run the Unique Mining Group, a small-scale mining firm, in the Talensi District. Until he was suspended recently from the group in connection with the fraudulent breach of trust, Tampoare was part of the group.
For trespassing on Unique Mining Group’s concession in 2011, Shaanxi Mining Company Limited, a Chinese firm which later changed its name to Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited, had offered $150,000 to the group. The money was handed over to the regional minister for onward delivery to the group.
But the regional minister paid the money to Tampoare through a government cheque without the knowledge and consent of the other members of the group. The regional minister confirmed the payment to Media Without Borders in a recorded interview.
The Brief Facts presented Friday by state attorneys before the High Court ‘1’ stated that:
“Somewhere in July, 2021, USD150,000:00 was forwarded to the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council for onward transmission to the Unique Mining Group as compensation for the alleged trespass. On the 23rd day of July, 2021, the Regional Coordinating Council issued a cheque [for] Gh¢885,000.00 to the accused without the knowledge and consent of the other affected parties.
“The cheque was, however, issued in the name of the Unique Mining Group to be paid to the accused. The accused then deposited the cheque into his personal account. Subsequently, the complainants received information about the payment and pursued the accused for their share but the accused never gave them their share.”
That portion of the state attorneys’ Brief Facts did not come as a surprise to the court audience, that story having been told by Media Without Borders some weeks ago.
But what left the audience dumbfounded was another revelation recorded in the Brief Facts that the accused reportedly gave Gh¢10,000 to the Bolgatanga District Officer of the Minerals Commission, Dickson Achindiba, and Gh¢15,000 to one Peter Bassana from the money meant for the Unique Mining Group.
Several members of the public are asking why prosecution did not include the Upper East Regional Minister, the Bolgatanga District Minerals Commission Officer and Peter Bassana in the ongoing criminal trial since the Brief Facts have cited their complicity in the alleged crime.
The case continues on Friday, 27 October 2023.
Below are copies of the Charge Sheet and the Brief Facts:
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org
Any person who facilitated the extortion and robbery of the poor miners must be tried along side with the principal accused. Any body known to have benefited from the booties of the robbery must equally face law.
The prosecuting body has a duty to prove that nobody is above the law.