The government has come under heavy criticism from civil society organisations (CSOs) and stakeholders in the mining sector following the military takeover of Northern Ashanti Mines — an operation likened to a “Rambo-style” raid.
Former Member of Parliament for Obuasi East, Mr. Edward Enin, has condemned the action, describing it as undemocratic.
Speaking in an exclusive interview, Mr Enin said that even if the company had violated the law, deploying the military to seize an indigenous mine was not the way to resolve the matter.
“Northern Ashanti Mines is an indigenous company, and so even if you feel they have done things that do not conform with the law, you don’t just take over the mine with the military. We are in a democracy, and I don’t think even a coup d’état country would do that to its citizens,” the former Obuasi East MP fumed.
Workers given one hour to vacate
Mr Enin said two of his nephews work at the mine, and their account of the takeover was, in his words, “astonishing and scary, to say the least.”
“They said the military gave the workers one hour to remove their belongings, and they had to hire a Kia truck to get their valuables out of the mine,” he recounted.
Concerns over foreign interests
The former MP expressed surprise at the sequence of events, noting that Nguvu Mining owns Northern Ashanti Mines, and that after the government granted the company a reprieve, one would have expected the Minerals Commission to allow it to correct its infractions.
“But to take over the mine and give it to the Chinese is not right. The President must intervene. I hear he is out of the country, but the Mahama that I know won’t support this lawlessness,” Mr Enin said.
He further expressed worry that Ghanaian authorities do not support their own and easily hand over concessions belonging to indigenous miners to Chinese interests, insisting this would not happen elsewhere on the continent.
“Nigerians defend their own and protect their own, no matter the circumstances. What is happening is that the Chinese have money to spend, so if we are not careful, we will end up leaving our mineral resources in the hands of the Chinese at the expense of indigenous miners,” he cautioned.
Mr Enin therefore appealed to the President to intervene and reverse what he termed a “lawless” decision, just as was done in the case of Adamus.
Northern Ashanti Mines heads to court
Meanwhile, Northern Ashanti Mines Limited has filed an interlocutory injunction against the Minerals Commission of Ghana, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, and the Attorney-General, asking the High Court to stop the three respondents from forcibly taking over its US$110 million mine at Konongo in the Ashanti Region.
The court action was filed on 22 October 2026 at the registry of the Commercial Division of the High Court, with the motion expected to be moved on Thursday, 29 October 2026, by the company’s solicitors, VINT & ALETHEIA PRUC, led by Erasmus Papa Akotey Quartey.
The applicant is essentially seeking four reliefs. It is asking the court to prevent personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces, the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), the Ghana Police Service, or any other security agency — and any person or company claiming any interest through them — from:
- Interfering with possession and operations — entering upon, seizing, taking over, occupying, or in any manner interfering with the applicant’s possession, operations, staff, equipment, facilities, records and property at the contiguous Konongo Mining Lease area in the Asante Akim District of the Ashanti Region;
- Deploying security personnel to the site — deploying, or causing, requesting, authorising or permitting the deployment of military or other security personnel to the said area, for the purpose of taking over the mine or enforcing the purported termination of the applicant’s mining lease contained in a letter from the first respondent dated 30th April 2026;
- Reallocating the mineral right — granting, re-granting, allocating, re-allocating, assigning, transferring or otherwise dealing with any mineral right over the Konongo area in favour of any third party, whether Ghanaian or foreign, including processing, approving or concluding any application for a mineral right over the area referenced in a letter from the Asante Akim North Municipal Assembly dated 18th August 2026; and
- Further enforcement steps — taking any further step whatsoever to implement, enforce or give effect to the said letter dated 30th April 2026, pending the final determination of an application for judicial review filed on 21 October 2026, together with such further or other orders as the court may deem fit.
Judicial review of lease termination
In a related development, Northern Ashanti Mines Limited has also filed an application for judicial review at the High Court in Accra, challenging the termination of its mining lease covering the Konongo area.
The application, directed at the Minerals Commission, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, and the Attorney-General, seeks to have the decision to terminate the company’s lease declared unlawful and quashed.
Court documents sighted by the media identify a letter dated 30th April 2026, signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, as the instrument communicating the termination.
The company argues that the decision was taken without lawful authority and in breach of mandatory procedures under the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) and the Minerals and Mining (Licensing) Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2176).