Fresh Demo Against Newmont On Tuesday

The land owners at Newmont Akyem’s project, have declared their intention to embark on a fresh demonstration on Tuesday, October 15, after the various parties in the dispute failed to reach a compromise following a truce.

The land owners, who are protesting the terms of settlement between them and the mining firm, claim Newmont is adamant on granting them their full benefits for the land they ceded for mining activities.

According to Mr. Ntiamoah Denkyira, Spokesperson of the land owners, they want Newmont to pay them compensation for 14 years for the use of their land out of the 15 years they have been granted.

He disclosed that, “What Newmont has given us now amounts to one year’s compensation, so we want them to pay the rest before we can give them peace”.

“We are embarking on a demonstration in front of their company on Tuesday to press home our demands and we shall not compromise under any circumstances,” Mr. Denkyira stated.

The demonstration would be one of the numerous embarked upon by land owners at Akyem Kokofu and its surrounding areas against Newmont for what the land owners term, unfair settlement package.

Tuesday’s impending demonstration comes after a truce reached in July this year for the two parties to negotiate a settlement. However, negotiations failed, thus the new turn of events.

The land owners have also sued Newmont over the matter and the case is currently at the Koforidua High Court.

Compensation package for the land owners, mostly farmers, for an acre of land, was six hundred Ghana Cedis (GHC600.00) an equivalent of about one hundred and thirty United States Dollars (USD130.00).

The compensation package for each acre of cocoa was seven thousand and two hundred Ghana Cedis (GHC7,200.00) or about one thousand and five hundred United States Dollars USD1500.00; an acre of citrus is four thousand and two hundred Ghana Cedis (GHC4,200.00) or about nine hundred United States Dollars (USD900.00) and same for an acre of palm trees.

The landlords claim the amount was to cover a year’s compensation for the destruction of the crops for a project that would last 15 years and land and crops that have become irrecoverable for life due to the massive destruction to the land for mining.

Newmont Ghana Ltd has been under fire at its operational area in Akyem for alleged exploitation and failed promises.