A group of farmers within the Ahafo South Mine District of the Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL) in the Ahafo Region inundated the premises of the Sunyani High Court to help them access their rightful land compensation.
Numbering more than 100, the visibly angry farmers, clad in red headgears and armbands, were at the high court to seek an order to restrain the NGGL from undertaking compensation valuation of lands at Afrisipakrom and Yamfo in the Mine’s concessional area.
The farmers, drawn from Afrisipakrom, Yamfo, Adrobaa, Techire, and Susuanso, are the Ahafo North Property Owners and Farmers Association members, a group comprising local farmers within the 10 Newmont Ahafo mine-take communities.
Affected farmers would suffer hardships, the affidavit revealed
The farmers claim Newmont is scheming to shortchange them by adopting exploitive steps of negotiation, therefore resolving to continue with agriculture rather than giving out their source of livelihood farmlands to a mining company without receiving a befitting compensation.
An accompanying affidavit filed by David Rockson Tabiri Boahen of “Sarpomaa Chambers”, a Sunyani-based legal firm and Counsel for Ali Baba Mohammed, one of the aggrieved farmers, noted the NGGL had failed to comply with all the laws, regulations, and rules laid by the state to regulate compensation processes.
“Representatives from Afrisipakrom, Susuanso, Adrobaa, Techire, and Yamfo all resolved to engage their preferred qualified person or expert to represent them in the negotiation and assessment of the compensation, which NGGL accepted, but rejected those of Yamfo and Afrisipakrom in violation of the plaintiffs’ legal right to representation of their choice.
“All amiable attempts and efforts by the plaintiffs to the defendant to allow the plaintiffs to engage a qualified expert or person to represent their interest and lead the negotiation and assessment by law and regulations governing the process have been opposed and rejected by the defendants.”
Affidavit
The affidavit, therefore, added if the right thing were not done, the affected farmers would suffer hardships, and thus prayed to the Court to push the NGGL to comply with the laws governing the compensation assessment and negotiation process.
Paramount Chief assures the farmer’s justice
In a recent development , Nana Ansah Adu Baah II, the Paramount Chief of Yamfo Traditional Area and the President of the Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs, has appealed for an out-of-court settlement.
Speaking in an interview, Nana Baah II, who was also at the Court premises, said a meeting had been arranged between the counsels of NGGL and the affected farmers and expressed the hope that the engagement would be fruitful for mutual benefit.
He, therefore, appealed to the farmers to remain calm, saying, “we would not sit unconcern for anybody to cheat you”.
Nana Baah II urged the farmers to refrain from any behavior that could disturb the area’s peace and reminded them that the company had already secured the right to mine in the Ahafo North concessional area.
Adding to the solutions, Dr. Samuel Kumi, the spokesman of the Ahafo North Property Owners and Farmers Association, explained the Association is seeking support from the Global Greengrant Fund to undertake advocacy campaigns to tackle the challenges confronting mining companies and their host communities.
Newmont Ahafo North Project
The Ahafo North project in the Tano North Municipality is estimated to generate an annual average production of 260,000 ounces. The project site is located at about 50km away from the Ahafo South mine. The project which started in 2021 will have expected lifespan of 13 years. The site contains about 3.38-million ounces of reserves.
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