Stakeholders, including small scale miners, chiefs and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have appealed to the government, through the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources, to consider a review of the mineral concession granted to mining giants AngloGold Ashanti (AGA), in order to grant opportunities for small scale miners in the area.
Multinational mining Giant AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) is reported to have taken a 285-kilometre square concession in its catchment area, putting small scale mining firms in a gross concession inequality.
The small scale miners are currently up in arms against the AGA, and are calling on the Minerals Commission and other stakeholders to come in and ensure the indigenes in Obuasi and Bekwai municipalities, and Amansie Central, Adansi North and South districts gain access to some portions of the mining concession for their operations.
At a day’s mining forum held in Obuasi, Mr. Richard Ellimah, Executive Director of Centre for Social Impact Studies (CESIS), bemoaned the concession inequality in the mining town of Obuasi, which has virtually crippled the operations of small scale miners.
Mr. Ellimah was of the view that the chronology of events, which saw the AGA acquire the large concession in the Obuasi and Bekwai municipalities, and Amansie Central and Adansi North and South districts, was not properly done, and must, therefore, be reviewed.
Mr. Ellimah noted at the forum, which was organised under the auspices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Third World Network Africa (TWN) that “the vast concession inequality had been largely responsible for the constant scramble between the small scale miners and the AGA, which often results in the two factions attacking each other with deadly weapons.”
The Executive Director of CeSIS stated that in 1890s, the Adansi and Bekwai chiefs gave a huge concession to one company, then Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, to operate in the area.
He stated, however, that as a result of this decision made several decades ago, indigenes within catchment communities have been denied the opportunity to engage in small scale operations.
“We find it unacceptable that well-resourced indigenes who want to enter into the mining industry cannot do so, due to a historical legal and regulatory regime,” Mr. Ellimah noted, stressing that there was the need to take a second look at the agreement.
He further emphasised: “It has been several years since this mistake was made, but thankfully, there is sufficient space in our contemporary legal and regulatory regimes to reverse this abnormality that was placed on people living in these communities.”
According to him, unlike the AGA and other expatriates who repatriate revenue from the mines into their countries, the small scale miners spend money accrued from their mining in Ghana, which helps boost the economy.
“We are all united in the belief that the mining industry should benefit Ghanaians. A major step forward would be to support small scale miners in Obuasi to gain access to their own concessions,” he added
On the prospect of gold in the Ghanaian economy, the Executive Director of CESIS stated that Ghana had failed to develop the mining industry that is well-integrated into our economy, adding that successive governments had failed to support mining-dependent districts like the Obuasi Municipality to build alternative industries to mining.
“When multi-national mining companies sneezed, the districts caught a cold.
Even with an eleven percent dependency on revenue, the Obuasi Municipality is already experiencing a fall in revenue from mining and mining-related activities,” the Executive Director of CeSIS noted.
The Chairman of the forum, Nana Gyamfi Brobbey, who is also the Chief of Aketekyeaso, bemoaned this inequality of concession, and urged the CeSIS and Association of Small Scale Miners to work together in order to achieve the collective goal.
According to him, a mining town like Obuasi should be equated to San Francisco in the United States, or Johannesburg in South Africa, but sadly, Obuasi is nothing to write home about.
Addressing the forum, Mr. Richard Ofori Agyemang District Chief Executive of the Obuasi Municipality, said the objective of the forum was to provide a platform for AGA and the Minerals Commission to announce their plans to cede parts of the AGA concession to registered small scale miners.
He further noted that platforms should be given to the Minerals Commission to explain the procedures for allocating the ceded lands, and the opportunity should be given to stakeholders, especially the district assemblies, to provide feedback on plans.
On the outcome of the CeSIS forum, MCE Ofori Agyemang indicated that a road map that outlines steps to be taken to ensure small scale miners have access to lands for mining.
According to him, the outcome of the forum will help small scale miners to re-organise themselves and form co-operatives to ensure they benefit from the ceded concession.
The General Secretary of the Artisanal Small Scale Miners’ Association in the Obuasi Municipality (ASSM), Mr. Rufus B. Borry, said their biggest problem, as registered small scale miners, was how to get concessions for themselves, since all the land in the gold city (Obuasi) belongs to the AGA, Obuasi Mine Operations, which covers two municipalities and three district assemblies, namely Obuasi, Bekwai, and Adansi South and North respectively. The Chronicle
