Miners On Strike: Nation Loses $12,500 Daily

The nation’s major diamonds producing mine, the Ghana Consolidated Diamonds (GCD), which is located at Akwatia in the Eastern Region, stopped functioning Tuesday, when the 250 workers laid down their tools.

The repercussion that strike has on the economy can be seen from the fact that everyday GCD produces an average of 500 carats of the precious gem valued at $12,500 or 108,125,000. And that implies that from Tuesday to yesterday 34m cedis had been lost through the industrial action.

And in view of the fact that both workers and the sector ministry remained entrenched in their respective positions on the matter, the strike could last for a month; that could mean a loss of over 2.6bn cedis.

That discounts the out station duty allowances being paid some 40 police men posted at the mines to maintain law and order, and the cost of fuelling and maintaining their vehicles.

The workers’ grievance centres on the presence of Sylvester Kwame Ankrah, the Engineering Manager of the company, at the mines. Ankrah and the former Managing Director, Godfred B. Solomon, are considered by the workers as having misconduct themselves in the purchase of a second hand Hyundai truck for the company and the advertisement of GCD on the International Tribune.

While the vehicle purchase which was done by Ankrah cost $6000 or 51.9m cedis at current prices, the advert which was placed by the MD cost $45,000. He unilaterally paid $20,000 or 173m cedis of the amount when neither the ministry nor workers knew of it, they alleged.

“Chronicle inquiries revealed that these and other grievances incensed the workers to call for removal of the men in April 2001. Placards they brandished during a demonstration forced the then Minister of Mines, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, to set up a committee to look into the workers’ grievances.

Though it cost GCD the whopping sum of 40m cedis to finance the committee’s investigations which lasted three months, to date, the report has not been made public, another source of worry to the workers.

In October 2001, the ministry directed that Ankrah return to the mines to take back his job and Solomon be paid all his entitlements amounting to over 100m cedis and then go home.

Before Dr Afriyie left to the Ministry of Health, he reported, communicated to the GCD staff that, even though a level of impropriety had been established in the conduct of Ankrah and Solomon, they were not grave enough to warrant their losing jobs.

But the workers insisted that in tune with government’s call for adherence to the zero tolerance for corruption, they would not welcome their officers back unless the committee report was not shown to have exonerated them.

Union representatives and senior staff members who talked to the paper gave the impression that workers preferred Ankrah staying home and receiving his salary to his joining them on the mines.

The Eastern Regional minister, Dr Francis Osafo-Mensah, and the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, both met the workers or their representatives with the view to finding a truce but could not make headway.

But the RM, insisting that returning Ankrah to his post was a government decision must be implemented at all cost, last Tuesday, reportedly asked Ankrah to go home under heavy police guard.

That caused the workers to down their tools. When contacted the General Manger of GCD, James Lamaire, admitted that there was a “slight disagreement” though declining to call it strike. Lamaire added that workers would be meeting the minister, Kwadwo Adjei Darko today with the hope of solving the impasse.