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Days after The Fourth Estate exposed how a group aligned with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) forcefully took over a licensed mine in Prestea Huni-Valley with the support of National Security, an official of the party has confirmed the involvement of the Member of Parliament for the area.
At a press conference in response to The Fourth Estate’s publication, Mohammed Awal, the NDC Communications Officer for the constituency, told the media that the lawmaker had done nothing wrong. Again, the NDC Prestea Huni-Valley Communications Officer claims that the MP’s action was about “restoring sanity, ensuring rightful owners reclaim their operations, preventing further exploitation.”
Mr. Awal’s justification for the seizure of the concession belonging to RMG Mining was that prior to the New Patriotic Party coming to power in 2016, the mine had been operated by Task Mining, but through political machinations, officials of RMG snatched it.
Mr Awal also confirmed the involvement of National Security in the forceful takeover of RMG mine.
“Hon [Robert Wisdom] Cudjoe’s involvement was not to enable illegal mining but to restore order. Acting under National Security, the MP facilitated mediation efforts, including the Blue Gate meeting, to resolve longstanding disputes caused by these prior takeovers,” Mr. Awal said.
“Hon [Robert Wisdom] Cudjoe has consistently championed the interests of his constituents, prioritising lawful and community-driven mining practices over partisan exploitation.”
He also claims that the MP is not the problem but the solution, and adds that he (the MP) prioritises local stakeholders such Task Mining, the company which he claims was unjustly kicked out of the concession for RMG Mining to take over.
The Fourth Estate’s searches at the Office of the Registrar of Companies revealed that Task Mining is not a registered company, neither does the company have a mining lease nor an environmental permit as required by Ghana’s mining laws.
Our investigations, however, showed that RMG Mining was granted a five-year mining lease in June 2023, and expires in 2028.
RMG Mining also obtained a mining operating permit from the Minerals Commission in the same month and subsequently, an environmental permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in October 2023.
What Mr. Awal failed to mention is that, the illegal miners who took over the concession in March this year after National Security ejected RMG Mining have no legal right to be there – no mining lease, no environmental permit – just muscle and ammunitions, and backed by political power. The takeover was led by NDC activist, Ebenezer Amemagakpor, who now displays portraits of John Mahama and the MP in the captured RMG office, a show of political muscle without paperwork.
He also failed to mention that thugs employed by illegal miners on the RMG site have chased out officials of the Electricity Company of Ghana who attempted to cut off the power illegally connected to the site.
Background
The Fourth Estate on September 9, 2025, publication drew attention to how National Security stormed a licensed small-scale mining site in the Prestea Huni-Valley municipality in March this year, drove away the owners and took over the site.
The site was subsequently handed over to persons believed to be associated with the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) for illegal mining/galamsey. This group of illegal miners is led by Ebenezer Amemagakpor, alias Commander or Aboyanga, a known NDC activist who also runs a gold-buying agency, known as Nyame Tease. After the takeover of the site, which operates using high-voltage/high-power-consuming pumps, the legitimate mine owners, RMG Mining Limited, reported the matter to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and asked it to disconnect power to the site to avoid the accumulation of bills in the company’s name.
ECG obliged and disconnected power to the site. However, this was for a different reason. It claimed RMG hadn’t paid its bills.
NDC MP for the area, Robert Wisdom Cudjoe, wrote to ECG to request for reconnection to enable what was illegal mining to continue
He told ECG that national security had tasked him to oversee the mine until the resolution of a supposed conflict over the mine.
“I wish to bring to your attention that there was a recent dispute between two mining contractors over the ownership of the concession, which required the intervention of national security. Following their directive, I have been tasked with overseeing the site until an amicable resolution is reached,” Mr. Cudjoe’s letter to the ECG said.
In the letter, the MP described the site in question as a community mine site. But at the time of his letter, the government had banned all community mining, and so there couldn’t have been a community mine site.
While the illegal mining boomed at the site, some foreign nationals joined. The Fourth Estate can reveal that at least six Chinese nationals were on the site as of July 17, 2025, operating and repairing mining equipment, in violation of Ghana’s Minerals and Mining Act, which prohibits foreigners from participating in small-scale mining.
Section 96 of the Minerals and Mining Act states that “a non-Ghanaian or a foreign company shall not provide mining support services for a small-scale mining operation.”
