Discontinue case against 15 Young Akokoaso men -Kotokuhene to Jia Xin Company Ltd
There was drama at Kotoku Palace in Akim Oda yesterday when the chief of Akokoaso Nana Asare Bediako III together with some inhabitants of the dense forested town brought a case of mistreatments of his people against Jia Xin Industrial Company Limited.
The Akokoaso group which numbered over three hundred stormed the palace clad in black attires. They chanted songs of war and warbled canticles; calling on Jehovah to give courage to Oseadeeyo Dr Frimpong Manso IV King of Kotoku to dispense Justice to their cause.
Outspoken Akokoaso Assembly Man Charles Frimpong took pains to narrate chronicles of horrible clashes between some young men of Akokoaso and Jia Xin’s security staffs with material evidence to the King.
The occasional skirmishes, according to Mr Frimpong, have always erupted because of encroachments by the Chinese led mining company on lands owned by locals without compensation.
What stirred the atmosphere was when the five foot four inches tall Assembly Man was able to prove that the arbitrary arrest and continuous detention of fifteen Akokoaso young men who opposed series of encroachments was systematically occasioned by the Chinese led company to stall opposition and cause fear and panic at Akokoaso.
When the King’s court gave chance to Jia Xin’s management to respond to charges preferred against it, Chinese industrialist Mr Wang Yandong who spoke through an interpreter couldn’t challenge the points raised by the Akokoaso people.
He remained evasive during a questions and answers session and summarily called for peace.
Kotokuhene Oseadeeyo Dr Frimpong Manso IV observed: “ I can discern from these discussions, that the periodic skirmishes that erupt between Jia Xin Industrial Company Ltd and the Akokoaso Community are as a result of the fact that the Chinese led mining company lacks social license”.
Oseadeeyo Dr Frimpong Manso IV chastised the management of Jia Xin Industiral Company Ltd and further entreated Mr Wang Yandong to show good will towards the Akokoaso Community by writing to the court within 24 hours to discontinue the case against the fifteen young men who are currently behind bars for standing up for their rights.
The ruling was received with cheers and applause by the Akokoaso Community.
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