OBUASI NATIVES, PARAMOUNT CHIEF DISCUSS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH EMPOWERMENT IN USA

By Emmanuel ADU GYAMFI (Odopa2@gmail.com)

An influential team of Obuasi natives in the United States of America (USA) paid a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of Adansi

Traditional Area (ATC) , Opagyakotwere Bonsra Afriyie II, on Sunday September 24, 2023 in the USA.

The learned and respected Chief who used to live in Maryland, USA and worked as a Certified United States Corporate Accountant is currently in the US for medical review.

Hon Edward Ennin (Former Obuasi MP), Hon Samuel Aboagye (NDC Parliamentary Candidate for Obuasi East) and Dr Solomon Owusu (Mining Consultant in USA) were the team that visited the Chief.

The purpose of the visit was to check on the Chief’s health and use the opportunity to discuss key concerning matters confronting the people of Adansi areas, particularly Obuasi.

According to the visiting team, Obuasi is one of the top gold mining towns in Africa and the world but the town is far behind development with unbearable poverty faced by the people. 

Topics discussed included illegal mining (galamsey) issues, youth unemployment, infrastructure deficit and lack of benefits from gold mining activities in the Adansi traditional areas.

On the youth unemployment, Hon. Samuel Aboagye expressed concern about the manner in which

the Adansi youth are denied employment opportunities from AngloGold Mining company, UMA

Mining Contracting company and other subcontractors.

"Many people from the big cities like Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi, among others get employed to work with these companies" he emphasised.

In his view, qualified Adansi

natives should be given the first employment priority at all levels of the organizations before

anyone else.

Hon Aboagye expressed worry about the frustrations small - scale miners in the Adansi areas face in their activities while foreigners, particularly Chinese illegal miners pollute water bodies and degrade lands with impunity. 

He reechoed the illegal mining activities operated by foreigners in Obuasi and its catchment areas, and urged the government to intervene.

Hon Ennin, a board member of AngloGold Ashanti Mining Company disclosed that the company relinquished about 70% of

its entire concession to the government to be given to the small - scale miners for their operations.

Unfortunately, he said, these concessions ended up in the hands of top government officials who are

benefitting from them, instead of demarcating them among the small - scale miners as planned.

Explaining the constraints involved in the youth unemployment issues, the Former MP stressed that AngloGold has put in place an effective structure to ensure that Adansi natives are considered

for job opportunities. 

According to him, the company has issued resident evidence forms to the local and traditional authorities, purposely to authenticate job applicants to ensure that those

considered are truly qualified natives from the Adansi areas. 

With those forms in place, Hon Ennin was of the view that Adansi residents should rather blame their local and traditional leaders, if they

suspect job opportunities offered to non - natives.

Dr Solomon Owusu, commenting on the general mining activities, raised concern on why Obuasi

and its catchment areas have not been developed from the proceeds from mining activities.

According to him, active mining operations have been ongoing in the area since 1800s, and yet Obuasi and surroundings lack basic amenities such as good roads, good, drinking water, constant electricity, good sanitation facilities, standard health facilities, among others. 

The Mining Consultant expressed his concerns about the alarming rate of foreigners invasion in the

small - scale mining sector and gold bullion trading, which are meant for only Ghanaian citizens,

according to Mineral and Mining Act 2006, Act 703.

Dr Owusu pleaded with the Paramount Chief to resist the water pollution and land degradation caused by the foreign nationals, particularly the Chinese around Obuasi and its catchment areas. 

He appealed to Adansi manhene to discipline subchiefs who

demarcate lands to foreigners to operate illegal mining, and allow all the destructions to

happen in their respective localities. 

He stressed that "there is no way a foreigner can operate

galamsey on a concession without the knowledge of the chief who controls that portion of the land".

Concerning punishment for illegal miners, Dr Owusu expressed his disappointment in Ghanaian

leaders about the way foreigners who engage in illegal mining are left off the hook after their

arrests while Ghanaian illegal miners serve prison sentences. 

In his opinion, the newly amended

Minerals and Mining Act 2019, Act 995 prescribes penalties for minimum imprisonment terms for

citizens and non - citizens who engage in illegal mining activities.

Speaking on the legal issues surrounding the illegal mining activities, Dr Owusu told the Chief that per the Act, citizens who engage in illegal mining risk a prison sentence of 15 to 20 years and non - citizens risk a jail term of 20 to 25 years. 

The Mining Consultant proposed that the government should minimize the intense bureaucratic procedures used to acquire small -scale mining licenses to encourage the illegal miners to register into the mainstream.

Dr Solomon Owusu noted that small - scale mining can be conducted in environmentally friendly manner to avoid water pollution.

He implored government to implement good mining practices to save current and future generations from life - threatening diseases such as liver, kidney, lung, and heart diseases, among others caused by illegal mining activities.

Opagyakotwere Bonsra Afriyie II, welcomed all the ideas from the visiting team, and promised to embrace new technological innovations that would aid in creating jobs, addressing galamsey issues, and developing Adansi and Ghana as a whole. 

He disclosed that some government appointees and the police condone and defended illegal miners in the area.

The Chief cited a recent case on August 5, 2023 when members of a

taskforce established by the Adansi Traditional Council were openly attacked and brutally assaulted by galamseyers at Adansi Ampunyasi.

Surprisingly, he added, the police arrested the taskforce members and their branded taskforce vehicle,

insisting that they were armed robbers and instead, freed the illegal miners. 

"It took prompt intervention of the Paramount Chief’s lawyer to save the taskforce members from going to jail. The branded taskforce vehicle damaged by the illegal miners is still parked at the police premises" 

"This matter is still pending at the police station and has not been processed for legal proceedings

at the law court" he indicated.

The Paramount Chief disclosed a recent letter he received from the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Simon Osei Mensah, indicating that traditional authorities should

stop all taskforce operations and instead, report any galamsey activity to the District Security

Council (DISEC). 

Opagyakotwere Bonsra Afriyie II, stated that the letter alone is enough evidence to justify how the hands of the traditional leaders in the area are tied concerning galamsey issues.

He assured the visiting team about his willingness to initiate investigation into the youth unemployment at AngloGold, and ensure that Adansi natives benefit from job opportunities in the area.

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