The Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has denied the sale of the Ramsar Site in Winneba to investors.
The crucial site is also the sacred forest for the annual Aboakyire Festival deer hunting tradition.
On Tuesday, December 5, 2023, disgruntled Winneba residents took to the streets, adorned in red attire, to express their discontent over allegations of the potential sale of the site for mining.
They argued that allowing mining operations would compromise the integrity of the reserve, which has significant cultural importance.
Addressing the issue, the Deputy Majority Leader said the claims were false.
He accused the National Democratic Congress(NDC) in the constituency of cooking up the allegation.
“The NDC in my constituency has come out with serious allegations to the effect that government officials, including my office, sat unconcerned and allowed people to buy the sacred forest of Effutu where we go for deer hunting for the mining of lithium, and I simply want to say that this allegation is false.
“In fact, the Minerals Commission two years ago stated the effect that such an application has not even been received by them, not to mention approving a company to mine lithium in that sacred forest, and so I want to put it on record that there is no such thing,” Mr Afenyo-Markin said.