A group comprising members of mining communities are demanding their fair share of development from the mining proceeds realized from their land.
In a statement, the group complained that too many mining communities have been shortchanged by mining companies.
“We are against anyone, any entity, who will take what rightfully belongs to us and leave us in abject poverty, and dismantle the main essence of our existence,” it said in the statement.
It thus called for proper scrutiny of social responsibility agreements with mining companies
“We want the Otumfo (Asantehene), Nananom, the government, Newmont and all international agencies and organizations, who matter in the affairs of Newmont, to relook at the Social Responsibility agreements before any attempt is made to sign them.”
“We further call on the government to relook at the issue of mining in Ghana and the cause of recent agitations against Newmont. The brutalities against the community members must stop now,” the group added.
Find below the full statement
Nananom present, Hon. DCE, Asutifi North, Honorable Assembly members, Youth Leaders from various Mine Affected Communities, some forum representatives present, Invited Guests, our friends from the Media, Representatives from CSO, NGOs, colleagues and elders, ladies and gentlemen, Good morning.
We invited you to this gathering this morning to brief you and the whole world on Newmont stands against the community, how we feel cheated as a community, and our position on the Newmont/Community Agreements
A brief background of the Ahafo Social Responsibility (ASR) Forum
The forum was constituted and had their first agreement in 2008. The forum comprises representatives of the major identifiable groups or stakeholders in the Ten Affected Mine Communities, including Nananom, the youth, women, Assembly members, Newmont and a moderator and his Co-moderator. It also include the MP, DCE, MCE of Asutifi North and Tano North Districts, respectively, and the Regional Minister, Ahafo Region.
The forum is supposed to have the similitude of a parliament where major decisions concerning the community and the company are reached. The forum has membership of 58 and they meet at least once every quarter.
The current Agreement, what are the issues?
The last agreement review was done in 2014. In 2018, which was the 4th year and the period for another review, Newmont and forum, requested the opinions, inputs and comments about what should be modified, abolished or brought up in the New Agreements. All the major stakeholders including the youth, the SDCs, Nananom, NADeF and the entire stakeholders presented their views and inputs for consideration.
However, after all the efforts and time put into preparing our inputs, none , except the point on employing 100% Local-locals for unskilled jobs, was accepted into the new agreement. All the others were rejected.
This total rejection of almost all our inputs, which were similar to majority of the stakeholders in the communities, did not go down well with the youth.
We, therefore, presented a petition to the forum and Newmont, reechoing our point of view and encouraging them to consider some of them.
Little was done about it. Again we have sent yet another petition. We are also by this medium informing forum and Newmont as follows:
- In simple terms, the tenure of office for the moderator and the co-moderator has expired and there is no law that supports them to stay beyond their mandate. He and Newmont are trying to massage the component in the existing agreement to make stay to RULE forum forever. They should step down immediately. All those pushing and encouraging them to stay on should desist from that.
Furthermore, the actions of both the moderator and co-moderator seek to favor Newmont. They mostly do this at the blind side of the Community Leaders. For instance, the moderator and Newmont have succeeded in taking away the benefit or portion of the agreement that shares the NADeF Fund to all the ten communities from Ahafo North Communities. In the current agreement there is a portion of the agreement that shares a certain percentage based on mining activities on a community’s land. However, Newmont has been able to get Nananom of Ahafo South and the moderator to superintend over her plan to put pressure on Ahafo North community to give them the go ahead to mine by giving them zero percent (0%) on ‘Activities’ fund. In the current agreement, all the communities without mining activities are given 1.5%. Why will moderator accept to cancel this at the time when those communities who have been denied the percentage are at the verge of getting mining activities on their land? Just to mount more pressure on them to release their land. We do not agree. We want to make it categorically clear, that there is no way ever that the current moderator and the co-moderator will be allowed to get another mandate to “rule” us, as a community. It is unprofessional, unethical and undemocratic
- The tenure of office of the incoming moderator (Who will not be the current NADeF Chair) and co-moderator should not exceed that of the forum members who take decisions of the forum. In short, the provisions in the current agreement in terms of the tenure of office for the forum members and the moderators should be maintained (each should be given a 4 year term). Also the tenure of office for forum member other than Nananom should be at the discretion of the appointing group.
- We want Annual Revalidation. Revalidation is when a community reaffirms its members who are working with Newmont or her contractors (Partners) duly community members. The revalidation should be done annually rather than every five years as proposed by Newmont. The revalidation is applicable to only our community members (employees) and this has no bearing on the company except when there’s fraud. We therefore insist that the revalidation should be yearly contrary to the five years that Newmont is insisting. It will give us the opportunity to know the genuine community citizens the company’s employs each year and also interact with our own people working in the mine, especially those who have been staying away from town and are unable to come home due to work schedules.
- Percentages in Newmont’s fund contribution
Newmont has since 2008 maintained its quota of contribution to the NADeF Fund despite increase in their yield as well as in Gold Price. We as a community have received one dollar ($1) per every ounce of gold produced and one percent (1%) of pretax profit since 2008 when gold price was around Eight hundred dollars per an ounce of gold. Currently the gold price is more than double and yet the same one dollar and 1% pretax profit is contributed to the community fund. We will not accept anything if not in percentages which must be related to the ounces of gold produced. We insist that the earlier agreement where in every ounce of Gold, $1 (One Dollar) is contribute to the community fund should be changed to at least 3% contribution to the community fund.
The previous 1% of pretax income should go to 3% as well. This is because the baseline minimum contribution for majority of mining companies to impacted communities in Ghana is 1% pre-tax profit. Some companies give 1.5% and more to their mining communities. This will help boost community development and sustainability. The population of the mining communities have increased, the price of gold has increased from the 2008 to about 250% but the company still offer $1 per an ounce of gold produce, the demand for sustainable development project has increased, the mine’s negative impacts on the mine communities have increased
- We want the Forum’s Standing Committee abolished
The Standing Committee is the platform where major decisions of forum are reached before presenting such decisions to forum. Such decisions are mostly not changed
The agreement has put the forum, which is the highest decision making body, at a disadvantageous position. This is because the standing committee is allocated such powers that it is stronger and vibrant than the forum. The standing committee is made to act such that it acts when forum is on recess. Here is the case that forum is mostly on recess or meets at least once every quarter. This makes the standing committee act on behalf of the forum at all times. More importantly, the standing committee is made up of some few forum members majority of whom are Nananom and Newmont Representatives. Some Nananom are taken out and are not allowed to be part of that committee. This practice does not breed mutual trust and love among our opinion leaders. Also the tradition and custom has made it such that the speeches of Nananom are always final and irreversible. Hence, keeping the Standing Committee will not help with objective discussions at the floor of forum since the decision of the few Nananom who form part of the Standing Committee are always made before forum discussions they may not be willing to reverse them, as tradition demands, even if in some cases they become well informed at the forum level. Our community is not happy with that arrangement. We therefore want the Standing Committees abolished and full strength be given to the forum where all members including all Nananom are there to make decisions. Where necessary, an adhoc committees should be formed.
- Community Experts
We want the situation where our community has an expert (consultant) who will meet and guide us and consult with community representations at forum. The community should hire the expert and his remuneration should be borne by the company.
- Women representation: The women representations of various communities should be selected from the women in the communities but not from WCC. We disapprove if selection of women representatives from the community are selected only WCC. (P.6 of 30(L)].
- Employment Percentage; There should not be a starting point for the 53% employment quota for local-locals. We encourage Newmont to round the 53% up to 60% but we are not comfortable with the starting point as is not the case with getting 30% of women employees in the company has no starting point (baseline) it is also not the same with other company/community agreements (P of 16). Newmont does not want to recruit any local-local to top management position in the company. They have little trust for the locals and they do not want to employ us to such management positions in almost all departments including the Human Resource
- Merging of surface and underground mining agreement. There is nothing new that have been added to the current agreement which shows that the impact or benefit of the underground mining is catered for. It is only a sentence stating that these agreements cover both projects. The underground mine has its own unique challenges as some of them were highlighted in the underground Environmental Impacts Statement (EIS). As part of the problems identified in the EIS, it was very clear that we shall face severe water crises. So, without underground agreement, how would such issues be addressed? There should be water, environments, and other vital agreements as part of this agreement.
- There should be a separate Resettlement.
There should be a separate Resettlement forum and agreement to handle resettlement related issues. Newmont should expect more agitations from the entire communities, especially from the Resettlement ones if they keep the current poster of ignoring the needs of the resettled communities. There should be a separate resettlement agreement and forum for resettlements issues to be addressed
- Newmont always preferring non-locals over locals in employment opportunities. Newmont and its contractors
Some senior managers of Newmont and their partners always prefer to work with their friends and allies who are non-locals at the expense of the local-local people. Any job that we can get the skill set from the communities, they still go in for non-locals just because they have occupied the juicy HR positions with non-locals. Recently, a certain job advertised which majority of our apprentices who are completing end of this month qualify most but have been earmarked for similar apprentices who completed in March this year who hails from Akyem as we are speaking , three of such people have been called by Newmont to be interviewed through online as against our local apprentices. We want to use this medium to caution Newmont not to select other people from outside our community and should consider this apprentices who are passing out in less than a week time. They will internalize knowledge acquired.
- Newmont is gradually becoming a demiurge in Ghana.
Sadly and pathetically, Newmont is herself powerful that almost everything she does is perfect and everything that she rejects is right. If the current trend of shielding Newmont by our leaders at all times continues, if you make Newmont as untouchable, in it becomes so hard and difficult to tell Newmont the truth, when such need to be told, a time will come and the communities may react and they may not be controlled. We do not encourage our people to be lawless and take the law into their own hands, no, never. We do not support any one who perpetuate violence against the company, we will not countenance on that, just as in much the same way that we will not support anyone who perpetuate violence against our community citizens.
Look at the incident that occurred when the innocent community members opted to demonstrate peacefully to express their dissatisfaction about how Newmont. They were brutally assaulted physically by police officers so inhumanely that some of them have been hospitalized. Their concerns were ignored at a point when they needed to be heard by government officials. Newmont should be reminded of that they have signed some international protocols to demonstrate good practices and not to perpetuate violence and brutalities against its host communities. Poor farmers at Dokyikrom were brutalized by Ghana police when embarking on peaceful demonstration when they have notify police for 3 week notice
We write petitions to some Newmont Leadership, including the General Manager and not even acknowledgement of receipt of such correspondence is made, talk less on trying to resolve the issues raised in the petitions. If the ‘dead goat’ posture of both some government official and Newmont management continue, what may happen may not be palatable for all of us.
Conclusively, we are not against mining, we are not against Newmont, but we are against anyone, any entity, who will take what is rightfully belongs to us and leave us in abject poverty, sorry and dismantle the main essence of our existence.
We want Otumfo (Asantehene), Nananom, the government, Newmont and all international agencies and organization, who matter in the affairs of Newmont , to relook at the Social Responsibility agreements before any attempt is made to sign them. We further call on Government to relook at issue of mining in Ghana and the cause of recent agitations against Newmont. The brutalities against the community members must stop now.
Long live Ghana, Long Live Ahafo
Thank you