‘Grossly disrespectful’ – Franklin Cudjoe slams Kwakye Ofosu’s claim that Kpebu and Bentil have been paid to speak for indigenous mines

Founding President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has condemned comments by Minister for Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu in which he questioned the financial interests of legal practitioners Martin Kpebu and Kofi Bentil in their advocacy for indigenous mining companies facing regulatory action.

He made the comments in a social media post on Sunday, November 1, following a heated discussion involving the minister and the two lawyers on TV3’s KeyPoints programme on Saturday, October 31.

The discussion centred on the government's handling of disputes involving local mining companies, including Northern Ashanti Mines Limited and Narawa Mines.

During the programme, Mr Kwakye Ofosu questioned the financial interests of the two lawyers in the Northern Ashanti Mines disputes.

He alleged that they had taken up a commission and referred to what he described as a success-fee arrangement.

Reacting to this, the IMANI Africa boss described the remarks as disrespectful, arguing that the two men should not be presumed to have been paid to speak against what they consider to be unfair treatment of legally registered mining companies.

“Frankly, I find the charge by my brother Felix Ofosu Kwakye—that Kofi Bentil and Martin Kpebu must have been paid to advocate for a lawful and humane approach to shutting down legally registered mining companies that have fallen on hard times, irrespective of their owners' status, grossly disrespectful,” he wrote.

Mr Bentil, a Senior Vice President at IMANI Africa, had accused the government of taking over local mining concessions and transferring them to Chinese interests.

He also questioned the Minerals Commission's justification for terminating Northern Ashanti Mines' mineral rights, arguing that the regulator had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support its claims.

Mr Kpebu, meanwhile, alleged that some state officials were intimidating and brutalising the owners of Narawa Mines despite a court order barring the government from taking over the concession.

The company has separately alleged that armed persons took control of its mining site and that unauthorised operators, including Chinese nationals, were conducting mining activities there.