Wan Shanghong
Reports reaching DAILY GUIDE indicate that a number of items including 3kg of gold have been stolen from the Big Stone Mining Company Limited, the licensed Chinese mining firm operating at Bogoso in the Western Region, which was recently taken over by a group of policemen.
Other items stolen are two big compaction guns; two small compaction guns; 20 packets motor-roller; one pick-up vehicle with registration number GW 6980-16; two laptop computers; cash of GH¢3,500 and a bank ID card belonging to the General Manager of the company; Laboratory Manager’s personal cash of GH¢3,500 plus his China Bank Book and Ghana Card; cash of GH¢7,233.00 left in the accountant’s office; and one security scan machine.
The items were allegedly stolen by workers of Wan Shanghong, alias Magee, whom it is believed used her political connections in the corridors of power, to collude with the police to occupy the factory, in disregard of the laws of the country.
According to sources, the illegal occupants of the site attempted to break into the main operational mining equipment, but were not successful.
It took the intervention of the Attorney General to order the police out of the mining company.
The Attorney General had warned the Inspector General of Police to evacuate his men from the site, otherwise he may be slapped with contempt.
Strangely, the police personnel who occupied the company were deployed from Accra because of the clandestine nature of the operation.
Legal Action
Following the development, the management of the company has indicated its resolve to institute a court action against the police and Wan Shanghong, the Chinese national, under whose influence the police kept their presence at the factory.
Background
It would be recalled that the Ghana Chinese Chamber of Commerce had expressed concern about the occupation of the Big Stone Mining Company, a wholly-owned Chinese company by a group of policemen.
In a letter to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice dated August 30, 2022, President of the GCCC, Tang Hong, called for action to restore normalcy.
“The local judicial system should protect the basic rights of our Chinese companies and the personal safety of Chinese employees, as well as the employment needs of the local employees. We hope the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, the Chief Justice and the Ghana Police Service can take the fairness and impartiality of the law as a criterion, crack down on illegal acts and also give justice to business operators, and confidence to investors in Ghana,” the letter, copied to the Chief Justice, and the Inspector General of Police stated.
The Police Headquarters, per a wireless message signed by the Director General, Police Legal and Prosecutions, Commissioner of Police (COP) Nathan Kofi Boakye, directed the Western Regional Police Command on September 1, 2022 to withdraw the men at the factory, but the directive was ignored because the regional commander did not deploy the police officers.
On August 21, 2022, the Attorney General, in a letter to the IGP titled, “Re-Petition for Redress in the Matter of Wan Shanghong, alias Magee Yang Liu vrs Big Stone Mining Limited and 6 others,” stated that the office had received a request for the police to stop the continuous abuse of the rights of the petitioners in the shareholding matter involving the company.