Third annual CiCoNet Conference ends in Nkoranza

This year’s annual national conference of Citizens Committee Network (CiCoNet) has ended at Akropong near Nkoranza in the Bono East region under the theme: “The Impact of Advocacy on Community Development Vision – the Time is Now.”

CiCoNet is ACA’s answer to the threat that its partner communities face from powerful economic interests as it serves as an interface group of concerned citizens who help protect the communities’ development vision.

Members of CiCoNet are drawn from communities threatened by the devastating effects of mining and have volunteered to serve as watchdogs for their communities with the view to championing socio-economic development. They usually liaise between their respective communities and their district or municipal assemblies to protect the environment and champion development programmes, among others.

Successes
Through CiCoNet, communities have won key victories, such as prompting the suspension of a highly polluting mining company’s operating permit and inducing companies to fill abandoned pits that endangered the welfare of children and livestock.

In 2023, the Network chalked some successes including media advocacy in July during which members led the Ghanaian media to highlight the devastating effects of mining in Juaso and Nsuapemso in the Fanteakwa South district of the Eastern region.

This led to the reclamation of some open pits at Juaso and a series of engagements between officials of the Minerals Commission and Kibi Goldfields Limited (KGL) on one side, and CiCoNet and ACA on the other side. A key outcome of this engagement was the agreement between KGL and an affected landowner, Mr. George Owusu Asante, over the payment of compensation.

Besides, CiCoNet successfully interfaced with mining companies in their localities view the view to undertaking risk assessments ahead of 2024.

2023 conference
During this year’s conference, participants took stock of their activities for this year and made projections for next year. There were role-plays, group discussions on deepening transparency and accountability among community leaders and interface meetings between CiCoNet and duty bearers.

There were role plays and group discussions on various topics treated at the conference.

ACA’s Director of Community-Driven Development (CDD), Nana Ama Nketia-Quaidoo, ably supported by the Project Manager, Osei Nimako as well as two Field Officers, Francis Jengre and George Mpoah were at hand to ensure the success organisation of the programme.

The conference was attended by CICONET members from Segyimase in the Abuakwa South district, Juaso and Nsuapemso in the Fanteakwa South district and Donkro Nkwanta, Salamkrom, Nwoase and Kyeredeso in the Nkoranza South Municipality.

Projections
Going into 2024, participants pledged to pay regular visits to completed FCAP project areas to assess their impacts on the people, undertake public and media engagements on harmful effects of mining, prioritize issues related to reclamation of farmlands, early completion of delayed projects by the government and undertake a campaign against the destruction of their farms by Fulani herdsmen.

They also discussed ways of collaborating with their chiefs to demand accountability from various heads of public institutions in their districts and carrying out public education on smoking and drug abuse by the youth and the promotion of girl-child education, among several others.

As part of the conference, participants were taken through sustainable livelihood capacity building sessions on beekeeping to add value and empower them to earn decent incomes for themselves -either on part-time or full-time basis.

In an interview, the Community Development Director of ACA – Ghana/West Africa, Nana Ama Nketia-Quaidoo said CICONET is now a registered entity and so it has legal backing for its activities.

She said as ACA continues to expand its activities, additional branches of CiCoNet will also be established.

“ACA is expanding to more communities. We have signed an MoU with Abuakwa South Municipal Assembly and about concluding discussions on additional communities in Nkoranza South to roll out our community-driven initiatives in these areas. So, where-ever we are working, it means we need to establish CICONET there.”

The conference was organized under the auspices of Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), a non-profit-making organization that puts legal and organizing tools in the hands of threatened West African communities.

Founded in 2016, ACA is a U.S. and Ghana-based non-profit organization that puts legal and organizing tools in the hands of threatened West African communities.

ACA has over the years been building an ecosystem of lawyers and other experts who collaborate with communities to defend communities’ rights and pursue their own vision of development in the face of destructive resource extraction operations driven by foreign investment.

It also helps to mobilize communities to define for themselves a vision for the future that is appropriate to them, and then fight for and reach that future through community-driven development planning, financial support, and legal assistance.

ACA generally helps West African communities that are threatened by the destructive impacts of extractive projects to take control of their futures and help communities design their own sustainable development plans and bring them to life through advocacy, legal support, and technical expertise.