Don’t Give Anglogold Concession To Cronies

…Mine Workers Warn Govt'
By Bernice Bessey
The Ghana Mineworkers' Union has strongly cautioned government against the temptation of awarding the 60 percent concession released by Anglogold Ashanti (AGA) to its party cronies and political affiliations.

According to the Union, government must be firm, fair and transparent, as it prepares to invite investors, especially small-scale miners, to develop the concession.  The Union added that partisan consideration would not serve the national good, advising that:  “It is important to avoid committing similar mistakes, where after more than one hundred years of mining, the country cannot boast of any enviable development at Obuasi and other mining towns.”

On March 9, 2016, AGA in a statement confirmed the release of 60 per cent of its concession to the Ghana Government. This was contained in a statement signed by Prince William Ankrah, General Secretary of the Ghana Mineworkers' Union (TUCG) and released in Accra.

Mr. Ankrah argued that government must avoid giving out the concession to political affiliations, saying the ultimate goal of attracting potential investors into the area was to ensure a beehive of economic activities for sustained growth in the beneficiary communities. He suggested that the best way to utilize the concession, where there will be due diligence in order to entrust it into the hands of serious minded investors with proven track record of doing business in the sector was to ensure fairness in its distribution.

“The plan should among others give priority to building the capacities of our small-scale miners so that they can become captains of the mining industry tomorrow. The sad state of affairs of infrastructural deficit, like poor road network, poor township layout and lack of sustained economic activities which have become the lot of the mining towns should give way to a new dawn of development with vibrant economy,” he explained.

Another area he called for government's immediate action, was the issue of illegal miners, popularly known as galamsey operators.  He indicated that galamsey operation keeps worsening by the day and there was a need to confront it head on, so that it does not undermine investor confidence and the continuous foreign direct investment (FDI) into Ghana's mining sector, with dire consequences for the economy.

To him, the catastrophic effect on the environment especially the pollution of water bodies, destruction of forest reserves and farm lands, and most importantly the threat posed by climate change are not issues to be taken for granted.

“We particularly urge government agencies tasked with maintaining security around mining concessions to be ruthless in dealing with people who engage in galamsey activities. Let us avoid the sad situation where we look on hopelessly for mining concessions to be destroyed with impunity with the local communities and Ghana in general as the ultimate losers.

“The threat to the life of our cherished miners at the concessions cannot be sacrificed on the altar of any greedy individuals who do not care about Ghana's economic development,” he stressed. He also called on other political parties to collaborate with government in the fight against galamsey operations, saying “Let us all bear in mind that our collective failure to adequately protect all mining concessions will be a recipe for an unquantifiable disaster in Ghana's mining industry.”

The General Secretary pointed out that mining can transform the economic and development challenges of the nation as there are shining examples in Johannesburg in South Africa and California in the United States of America (USA).