A former Deputy Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) USA branch, Ali Suraj, has stated without reservation that the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Ashanti Regional chair, Chairman Wontumi, would be duly punished if found to have breached mining regulations. Akonta Mining Company Limited, owned by Wontumi was said to have been operating unlawfully in the Nimri Tano forest reserve in the Amenfi West Municipality of the Western Region. According to the government, while the mining company has a lease to undertake mining operations in some parts of Samreboi, the company has no mineral right to undertake any mining operations in the Tano Nimiri forest reserve. There have been calls for the prosecution of persons running Akonta Mining Limited’s operation in the forest reserve. Asked why the government has not said anything about the activities of Akonta Mining, moved to prosecute Wontumi nor the inability of party communicators to criticize the act, Ali Suraj told Happy98.9FM’s Don Kwabena Prah, on the ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ political talk show, “no one is scared of Akonta Mining. If the government releases any document which says Akonta Mining did something wrong, then we will take Wontumi on.” With the case currently under investigation, Ali Suraj posits the party and its members will refrain from communicating about it until an official communique is released. Wontumi has however denied any wrongdoings, saying he is not engaged in illegal mining, appealing to authorities to undertake their investigations freely and fairly.