Broadcaster Okatakyie Afrifa-Mensah has shared a phone conversation he had with Alex Sarfo Kantanka, popularly known as Chairman Aluta, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) constituency chairman for Juaben, who is accused of owning an illegal mining (galamsey) site in the Ashanti Region.

According to the journalist, Chairman Aluta contacted him following a raid that Okatakyie led at a galamsey site in Bomfa, Ashanti Region.

The raid allegedly targeted illegal mining operations linked to the NPP chairman.

During the phone conversation, which Okatakyie aired on his #Freedom Morning Show on Angel TV on 19 September 2024, Chairman Aluta identified himself and said he was calling to intervene on behalf of a woman organiser whose son had been arrested during the raid.

“I was informed that you passed through the Bomfa site and arrested one of the boys... I don’t know how to put this. What can we do about it?” Chairman Aluta said in Twi, laughing at various points during the conversation.

He further explained that the arrested young man was a security guard at the site and that his mother, a member of his women’s wing, had asked him to intercede with the journalist.

“One of my women organisers called and said her son, who works as a security guard at the site, was arrested... she is the one who gave me your name and asked me to call you and plead on her behalf,” he added.

However, Okatakyie swiftly challenged the NPP chairman, asking him to be direct about his involvement in the galamsey site. He indicated that the arrested individual had mentioned Chairman Aluta's name, confirming his ownership of the site.

“I’m your brother; I’m also a member of the NPP. The person we arrested mentioned your name and said the site belongs to you. So, if you’ve called me about it, stop beating around the bush. If you do that, it seems like you’re trying to take me for a ride, and I don’t appreciate that,” Okatakyie stated.

Chairman Aluta, while giggling at the journalist's remarks, did not deny his ownership of the galamsey site. He then requested a meeting with Okatakyie, who agreed and shared his location.

Listen to the phone conversation in the video below:





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