The Teleku-Bokazo spillage

The Teleku-Bokazo spillage
October 9.2007
By Kofi Akordor

ON Sunday, September 30, 2007, a nasty incident was recorded in the Nzema East District of the Western Region when the youth of two communities clashed with employees of a company prospecting for gold in the area.
Limbs were broken, wounds sustained and property said to run into millions of cedis damaged when some over-zealous youth from Teleku-Bokazo and Anwia resisted an attempt by Adamus Resources Limited to convey equipment suspected to be for surface mining to its designated site. That information was said to have been based on a wrong assumption and, therefore, it was false. The clash, during which two policemen sustained severe injuries, has since received a lot of media attention.
It was natural that the immediate public reaction was a general condemnation of the action of the youth of the two communities. That was because violence and lawlessness, no matter their underlying factors, need not be condoned or encouraged. Public indignation at the clash was, therefore, in order and could be expected.
However, after the calm is restored, it is important to revisit the grievances of the two communities and see whether they are isolated or they have something in common with the concerns of other mining communities in the country. Whether we like it or not, some of these confrontations may be harbingers of worse things to come and pushing them under the carpet or disregarding them may only mean burying our heads in the sand, ostrich style.
It is likely that the youth of the two communities may have been reacting to genuine fears based on historical precedents. Under normal circumstances, one would have expected that a company going to a community with investment money would be received with open arms and not the hostile confrontation which met the Adamus team.
What could have triggered the confrontation? This is the question we should all try to find an answer to.
The police have acted by apprehending some people who were allegedly involved in the unfortunate incident, and if news that the aggrieved youth have adopted what is termed guerilla tactics, then we have a big load of communal violence resting perilously on our heads.
The solution, in my opinion, lies more on tact and diplomacy than trying to show where power lies. That is why if even the law should take its course, there would be the need to take steps to ensure a cordial atmosphere that will engender goodwill between the two parties, that is, the mining company and the communities. It is, therefore, very important that anything which will breed bad blood between the two parties must be avoided.
The plain truth is that while mining is constantly receiving attention as a major foreign exchange earner, the abject poverty and the deplorable conditions under which people in the mining communities live make nonsense of that claim. This has apparently heightened tension in the mining communities and led to intermittent clashes between the local people and mining companies.
The story of Obuasi is a good example. The Obuasi gold mine was for many years regarded as one of the richest in the world. What is there to show for this? A degraded environment, polluted water bodies, destroyed farmlands, poor social infrastructure, a horde of jobless youth who have resorted to any means to earn a living and a town which is dead even before it has started life. Apart from the Len Clay Stadium, Obuasi offers nothing which represents one of the richest gold mines on this earth.
Meanwhile, Obuasi has made millionaires out of people from other lands. It has built economic empires elsewhere, while its inhabitants are battling with diseases associated with mining activities. The only crowning moment was when a son of the land was knighted by the British Monarch for a good job done. That is Sir Sam Jonah, the former Chief Executive Officer of Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC), which became AngloGold Ashanti to reflect its true owners.
They say once bitten, twice shy. Many of the newly-emerging mining communities are now jittery about the operations of these foreign companies, having studied the fortunes of Obuasi and the earlier mining communities. If, in the past, out of ignorance the people thought these foreign mining companies were charitable organisations, a lot of the youth today are beginning to realise the folly of the past and are no longer ready to sit down unconcerned while the wealth of their land is taken away, leaving them in abject poverty. Being called illegal miners on their own land, while foreign companies get vast concessions for mining activities, is becoming a burden too much to bear by many of them.
It is time the government’s mining policy was reviewed to give the indigenes some control over their mineral resources. The local communities, led by the traditional authorities, the Members of Parliament (MPs)and the district and area councils could be encouraged to take concessions for mining purposes for community development and to enhance the social life of the people. It should also be possible for the local communities to have shares in the foreign mining companies so that together they sink or float.
A clinic here or a classroom block there is not all that the communities need, considering the huge profits running into hundreds of millions of dollars these mining companies make annually. The general lifestyle of the people in the communities must change to reflect the wealth of resources at their disposal. They need good roads, modern health and educational facilities, good drinking water and infrastructure which can enhance cottage industries and promote rural development.
Any dream that these companies are benevolent or charitable institutions which are here to help us to develop must be discarded. We must realise that they are here for serious business for maximum profit and it is only fair that those who are the custodians of the land also derive their fair share of their natural heritage.
The youth of Teleku-Bokazo and Anwia may have over-reacted. They may have taken the law into their own hands, but putting a few of them behind bars will only amount to trying to put out a smoldering fire with a few fresh leaves. It will simmer under and explode into something nastier at a future date, with more devastating consequences.
If the slum we call Obuasi has not taught us any lesson, then it means for many years to come we shall continue to mortgage our precious natural resources for a pittance.
By the way, since when did the Police Administration notice that some youth brandishing branches have taken over the duties of traffic wardens at our traffic intersections?
Since the beginning of our energy crisis last year, these boys have been operating at most of our traffic intersections because most of the traffic lights do not work. Sometimes you cannot tell whether they are traffic wardens or beggars. All the same, they provide some useful service, while the ministers, police officers and MPs drive past. If today the police have regained their confidence and sense of duty, they should go to work to control traffic at the intersections and not blow any unnecessary hot air.