Tuesday, 25th February, 2025
Hon Ebenezer Kwaku Addo
Asutifi North
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for the opportunity to present this Statement on the above subject matter, that is, the recent killings by the police and private security detail stationed at Newmont Ghana Gold Limited, Ahafo Kenyasi.
Mr Speaker, residents of Asutifi North have, over the past three years, experienced brutal attacks in the hands of security personnel stationed at Newmont Ghana Gold Limited. Some of these attacks have resulted in major injuries and deaths of affected victims. I am, therefore, making this Statement and I pray that Mr Speaker would direct the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to appear before the House and provide same with updates on the various incidents so far.
Mr Speaker, on 14th November, 2022, the police security detail stationed to protect the concession of the mining company pursued three young men on a tricycle and opened fire on them, leading to the death of one, and in the process, injuring the others. The IGP sent a delegation to Kenyasi for investigations to be conducted, however, the outcome of the said investigation is yet to be known.
Mr Speaker, on 25th August, 2024, the police and Newmont Ghana Gold Limited security operatives chased a 25- year-old young man spotted in their concession, leading to the young man falling into a dam created by Newmont and dying as a result. In fact, it took my effort to ensure the family of the deceased obtained the body of their relative for a befitting burial just this January, 2025.
Mr Speaker, on 8th January, 2025, the police and Newmont security detail chased some group of young men, apprehended three of them, and opened fire on them, killing them instantly. The IGP went there and indicated that thorough investigation would be conducted into the incident. However, results of the investigation is yet to be known. Just this Sunday, 23rd February, 2025, the private security detail at Newmont chased and apprehended a young man, stabbed him, and took him to a private hospital, but the young man was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Mr Speaker, my engagement with the District Security Council and information from the District Police Commander of Asutifi North show that the police detail at the Newmont site are directly deployed from the Police Headquarters in Accra, and are part of the Counter-Terrorism Unit. These deployments from Accra do not report to the District Police Commander and therefore, carry out instructions from the headquarters.
Mr Speaker, my experience in the operations of Newmont Ahafo Mines makes me appreciate the level of tolerance and sense of responsibility that the company has towards its mining communities. They do not compromise on safety and expect each life to be protected in their course of operations. Drivers are even advised to drive with caution and not cause harm to even animals. So why is the police and private security of Newmont killing innocent young men who go out in search of food for their families? The reason has always been that these young men encroached the concession of Newmont illegally. Mr Speaker, should gold be more valued than the lives of our youth?
Mr Speaker, with these few words, I pray that you refer this matter to an appropriate Committee and direct that the IGP comes to this House to brief us on why deployments to the Newmont site is directly made from Accra and are not subject to the orders of the District Police Command in the District they operate within. And equally, update the House on the various investigations he has undertaken for the necessary actions to be taken.
Before I end, Mr Speaker, I want to extend my condolences to the family of all the deceased young men in the Asutifi North Constituency who have been affected by these brutalities.
I thank you, Mr Speaker, for indulging me.
Hon Dominic Bingab Aduna Nitiwul
Bimbilla
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much.
Mr Speaker, I do not intend to comment, but I intend to make a plea to you that since the Minister for the Interior and the Minister for Defence would be coming to this House to brief us on the Bawku issue, you should add this matter to it. If you open up this matter for comment, without us knowing exactly what happened that these young men died, this House may not like the outcome of what people would say.
So, I would say that if it is possible, and if it meets your good intention, let us add this very matter that happened at Newmont to the briefing that the Minister for the Interior would be coming to brief this House on. That is what I would say. Otherwise, the things that may come out, maybe it is too early in the day for us to say some of the things that we want to say.
I thank you, Mr Speaker.
Hon Haruna Iddrisu
Tamale South
Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
I commend Hon Ebenezer Kwaku Addo for bringing the matter affecting his constituents to the floor of Parliament. That is how it should be. He is exercising his mandate in a representative capacity as an elected Member of Parliament for Asutifi North, on a matter of concern to him.
Mr Speaker, as rightly advised by Hon Nitiwul, Member of Parliament for Bimbilla, ministerial responsibility and accountability rests with the Hon Minister for the Interior. But probably, what he should add is to state that the Minister for the Interior should be accompanied by the Inspector General of Police, which is natural. In any case, when the Minister is coming, he probably would come with him. Mr Speaker, even though you are not opening this up for debate, just to caution the Ghana Police Service—
Mr Speaker, you yourself, are a good lawyer, when the Constitution says “uphold the dignity of men” and it uses the word “inviolable”, it is not for the police to shoot as and when they please, no. Even shooting is regulated by law, regulated by conduct, and regulated by practice. This trigger-happy portion of them who get trigger-happy—
Mr Speaker, Parliament must support him in expressing concerns about the way they treat suspects. The Constitution says, uphold their dignity. When they get somebody, they start slapping; that is not dignity. That is not honour of dignity. Even the way they treat trotro drivers, that is not what the Constitution expects them to do.
Mr Speaker, yes, this matter, maybe even as Hon Nitiwul observed, you may want this to go to the Committee of the Whole because mining, particularly in that community, means a lot for them in terms of opportunities, employment, among others. There may be more to it.
But Mr Speaker, significant to his submission is that why is deployment done from Accra—Regional Police Command, District Police Command? What has happened to the hierarchy of the police command system? That is part of his concern. Mr Speaker, let me commend him, but when we have the opportunity as a House, we must recommend compensation be paid to the families of the innocent lives that were lost.
I thank you, Mr Speaker.
Hon Gideon Boako
Tano North
Mr Speaker, I thank you for recognising that the Hon Member who made the Statement shares certain commonalities with me in terms of developments in our constituencies, what pertains with regard to Newmont operations, the activities of miners, and people who are seeking to unlawfully attack some of these companies.
Mr Speaker, in that view, my comment is more fortified by the poetic version of the post-1946 post-war confessional prose by the German Lutheran, Martin Niemöller, which serves more or less as a precautionary reminder of the dangers of inaction in the face of injustice.
Mr Speaker the German Lutheran said and I quote; “First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a communist. Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out, … Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Mr Speaker, the Statement made by the Hon Member is so important because within the Ahafo region, and I have senior Brothers here; Hon Collins Dauda and Hon Eric Opoku are our seniors. This small Region of six constituencies and six municipal and district assemblies is more or less becoming characterised by a lot of security threats, and Newmont currently has operated in the Ahafo South area which falls within the constituency of the Hon Member; and they are in my Constituency, Ahafo North.
Mr Speaker, it is so shocking that within the short period that Newmont has been in the Tano North Constituency, we have begun to see the influx of so many people coming into the Constituency with the aim to mine and not work with Newmont, but carve their own mining operations outside what is legitimately allowed, and these have posed a lot of security threats. Recently, a gentleman was seen on TikTok issuing threats to Newmont and trying to more or less indicate that if they are not allowed to enter certain concessions, they are going to take the law into their own hands.
Mr Speaker, I wish to put on record here that there are a lot of intense security threats in the Region and it is important that we call on the IGP and the Minister for the Interior to come to this House to speak to the issues. I would be so glad if indeed, I can go back to the constituency knowing very well that there is no threat to mining sites, and there is no threat of security on the people in the Tano North Constituency.
Mr Speaker, with that said, I think I will wait to see the time that your good Leadership will allow the Minister for the Interior and the IGP to come to this House to speak to the security threats that are around the mining operations in the entire Ahafo Region, particularly, the Tano North Constituency.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Hon Collins Dauda
Asutifi South
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for the opportunity to add my voice to the comments made so far, regarding the Statement made by Hon Ebenezer Kwaku Addo.
Mr Speaker, I also appreciate the point made by Hon Nitiwul, that this matter be referred to the Minister for the Interior, so it would be part of the envelope that he would be bringing to this House.
But Mr Speaker, the Minister for the Interior and the IGP, will address this House mainly on matters relating to security. But I am looking at another dimension of the matter, and that dimension has to do with the relationship between the mining company and the people in the catchment area where they mine.
Mr Speaker, before any mining company is granted a mining licence, a public forum is organised to explain how the mining company intends to mine in the area, and some promises and commitments are made during such meetings.
In the Ahafo area, there was the commitment to provide jobs and improve the welfare of the people of Ahafo when the mine is established. Even though the mining company continues to mine since the day it was granted a licence to operate in the area, I am not sure that the people in the catchment area are all happy about the activities of the mining company.
The maker of the Statement, Hon Ebenezer Kwaku Addo, indicated in the Statement that if one is a driver of Newmont Ahafo and on his way, and he comes across a snail or a snake, he dares not run over the snake or the snail. One is required as a driver to wait until the snail crosses, or one picks the snail, puts it into the bush before one crosses. I do not see why this same thing that is offered to the animal cannot be offered to a human being. That is why I have a problem. But I guess when the Minister for the Interior appears, we would get a second opportunity to look at it.
I will entreat the mining company that as much as we appreciate what they do for us in terms of social responsibility, I wish to state that the people of Ahafo will not appreciate them. If they will give us funds to construct school buildings, courthouses, police stations, but would ask the security forces to open guns on us and kill the people of Ahafo, we will not be happy. They can do anything for us; we will not appreciate them if they continue to do what they are doing or what they have been doing.
Mr Speaker, this is not the first incident that has happened there. Several incidents have happened, and I wish to indicate that as soon as such an incident happens—with this recent one, the victims involved were from Acherensua, which is a community in my Constituency. When we were organising the burial for the victims, I was told or contacted by the Chief Director of the Ahafo Region that the company wanted to fund the funeral of the victims. They employ security people who open arms on innocent citizens, they die, and they turn around to tell opinion leaders that they want to fund or take the bills of their burial? Clearly, that was an insult, but as I said, we will wait until when the Minister for the Interior comes.
But to end with a caution that Newmont must improve upon the relationship they have with the people of Ahafo, particularly the catchment area. I wish to further emphasise that the people of Ahafo will never be happy with them. They can provide everything in terms of infrastructure for us, but if they continue to ask their security people to do what they are doing, taking the lives of our people, they should rather stop building the roads, the schools and stop providing the social amenities they provide for the people.
We cherish the lives of our people more than what they do in terms of the social responsibility they provide for us.
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much.
Hon Peter Lanchene Toobu
Wa West
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to make some few contributions to the Statement ably delivered by my younger Brother, the MP for Asutifi North, Hon Ebenezer Kweku Addo. Let me, first of all, convey my condolences to the bereaved families. Losing one life is one too many when it has to do with mining.
Mr Speaker, this is not just purely a security issue, this is an issue that has to do with mining that has gone bad and creating issues of insecurity. As much as I agree with my elder Brother who just spoke, and as much as I also agree with Hon Haruna Iddrisu, and Hon Nitiwul, it is important for us to put the Minister for the Interior, and the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon Armah-Kofi Buah, to come together to brief this House. Because if the mining rules are right, and the regulation between the mines and the community is right, I am sure that this mistrust will not come up, and these insecurities will not be felt.
Mr Speaker, as a matter of education, we all need to understand that when one finds somebody holding a gun, that gun has rules and regulations. That gun is not supposed to be used to hunt human beings. At any point in time one presses the trigger, there must be justifications. If one is a police officer, one can only be justified in pressing the trigger if their own life or the lives of other people are at stake, and any other thing that one thinks of doing has been done and is not possible, and the only thing one can do as a last resort is to press that trigger. This is because if one presses the trigger and the bullet goes out and somebody dies, it does not matter what happens later. That life that is lost is forever.
Mr Speaker, at any point in time that a security officer is supposed to use force, there are four principles: He or she must first of all think about proportionality; is that force he would use proportional to the level of resistance he or she is receiving? He or she needs to answer the second question of legality. Will he or she be covered by any law if he or she uses this extreme force? Why will he or she use a sledge hammer to kill a fly?
Mr Speaker, any officer in uniform, whether private or official, should ask himself or herself the third question. Can he or she account for the force that he or she is using? Will he or she be right in accounting for it or will he or she pay a price for it? And the last point is, is it necessary at all for him or her to shoot? Is it necessary at all for him or her to slap somebody? Is it necessary at all for him or her to use a truncheon? Is it necessary?
Mr Speaker, all these are basic questions that are used in training people before they are allowed to carry a weapon. Mr Speaker, one uses a weapon to recapture an armed criminal who is escaping from justice. If one finds a fugitive who is not a threat to their own life, one does not have to shoot. But we cannot blame anybody about whatever happened in Asutifi North until the Minister for the Interior comes to brief this House. I am very particular about getting a brief information from the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources. If they can both come together, that would be fine.
Mr Speaker, probably, there is a relationship between the Newmont Ghana Gold Limited and the communities that we have to re-establish, so that when there is peace from that angle, we will not find somebody carrying a weapon and shooting. Why would we deploy people from Accra to take charge of a mine far away from Accra and combine and control is not controlled? What is the relationship between the forces on the ground and the command on the ground? We need to understand that and all these things, probably, when the Minister for the Interior appears before this House and gives a detailed briefing, we will be able to appreciate that. Mr Speaker, it is important for us to take note that I want to conclude.
Mr Speaker, we cannot speak so much openly on matters of this nature, and I thank my Brother, the former Hon Defence Minister, for giving that caveat. We agree that when it is in-House, we can speak much about it, but what is important is that Ghanaians lives matter and we must stop killing Ghanaians. We also have to protect our mines and protect businesses, so that together, we can build a very beautiful Ghana as we plan to reset the nation. I am grateful.
Hon Frank Annoh-Dompreh
Nsawam/Adoagyiri
Speaker, let me show solidarity, and sympathise with my Colleague who presented the Statement.
Mr Speaker, earlier, Hon Haruna Iddrisu had referenced the Constitution: Article 15 on the protection of life; 16, on liberties; Article 12, on fundamental rights. Mr Speaker, even to arrest or to detain or restrict citizens, the Constitution defines clearly how these matters should be dealt with, and our Colleagues spoke to the reoccurrence of these incidents. I recall, last week there about, a similar matter was raised and the Majority Leader walked in; Apparently, he had not been briefed on your earlier referral, inviting the Minister for Defence and the Minister for the Interior to come to a Closed Sitting.
Mr Speaker, this is not a matter we should belabour, and I would humbly suggest that we probably offload same matter on the earlier directives you gave. So that we kill, as it were, two birds with a stone, except to say that, as of today, the Majority Chief Whip has still not been able to give us directives or some directions as to when the Minister for Defence and Minister for the Interior will come meet us at Closed Sitting because—
Mr Speaker, if you recall, that was your directive. So, we need to show solidarity with our Colleagues, the Hon Boako and our Colleague who spoke and they are only doing their constitutional mandates as representatives of the people. They are raising these matters to the attention of duty bearers to ensure we bring some sanity into these constituencies.
We have to act as soon as possible because, Mr Speaker, the possibility of it degenerating is high, especially where people who are perceived as culprits are working about in a very close society; they walking about showing off without the authority or the law catching up with them has the potential of inciting others to resort to other violent exchanges which may not be too good for our country.
Ghana is a peaceful country. We had a peaceful election; we have a Government in place. When these things happen, there are incidents of people taking advantage. These things will happen, and it may not be coming from people from the Government side. Bad individuals and bad people could take advantage of the situation and make Government look bad. I want to join earlier speakers—
And, Mr Speaker, we will go by also your earlier directives that we have a Closed Sitting; this is a security-sensitive matter. It cannot be opened at Plenary; then we can have a Closed Sitting and get some briefing and see the way out. Mr speaker, I thank you.
Hon Ayariga Mahama
Bawku Central
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, I want to join Colleagues who appreciate the fact that many of these matters are sensitive matters, so I will be very cautious in commenting about these matters and say that, in the mining situation, we need to have the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) step up in terms of their work because, before any mining license or concession is given or any development of a mine is approved, a very extensive consultation is undertaken in the communities.
Mr Speaker, communities are educated and the buy-in of the communities must be obtained even before certain approvals are given for development to take place, so when those are not done or they are done but they are not done properly or that the genuine consent of the communities are not obtained, one will end up with these situations where some members of the community will resist. They will oppose, and sometimes, the way that they go about it could end up being violent. Also, it is important that we pay attention to the local content policies of Government. 2.00 p.m. The local content policies aim at involving the communities and Ghanaians as part of the implementation of the mining project. They acquire an interest because they are the subcontractors, and when they are the subcontractors, it creates an opening for their fellow countrymen to also participate.
So, one would have a mine and generally, almost every subcontractor is a Ghanaian; most senior level operatives are Ghanaians and it enables some level of local ownership of the mine. But when we do not implement the local content policies well—And I do not mean the local content where the mining activity is in the Western Region and we go and bring some other contractor and even though he might be Ghanaian, he has no connection with the local community and the workers that he might bring also has nothing to do with the local community. Then locals become aliens in their territory where a major economic opportunity is taking place that should be empowering them and not disempowering them.
Mr Speaker, if we push and ensure the implementation of the local content policies that this Parliament has enacted that seek to involve communities in the implementation of major mining activities, we might see greater ownership of mines by our local people and I think when they own it, they would not fight it as a project.
Mr Speaker, lastly, when we go to a district where there is a big mining operation such as Newmont, AngloGold Ashanti and Goldfields, et cetera, outside the borders of the mines, we would see absolute chaos and an absolute lack of organisation; no law and order or planning. One would cross the gate of the mine and enter into the mining community and it is a paradise with beautiful golf courses, finely constructed houses with roads probably paved. They are living in a paradise and just across the road the indigenes and locals are living in absolute squalor.
Mr Speaker, it naturally breeds envy and hatred among the young people. A few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to have a conversation with the CEOs of one of the big mines and I was asking them how they manage to go to sleep soundly when they live in such paradise and just across the street their fellow countrymen are living in such absolute squalor. Yet, within the mine, they have the resources to help them develop the basic infrastructure in their communities where they can allow their equipment outside to fix the roads, to ensure they have the basic infrastructure where the young people would have playgrounds. They could just use the equipment to clear the fields and erect poles to provide some lighting. Why do they think that such people would not hate them so intensely that when there is an opportunity, they would physically attack them?
Mr Speaker, mining companies when they go there must own the communities because many of them are destined to be there for decades; there are some mines that would be there for 20 to 40 years. So, they should take the community immediately around the mines as part of their community and share their resources with them and see whether they would have such hatred for the mining companies to the point that they would start attacking them. Even when others who migrate from far away come and pose a threat to the mines, the indigenes would collaborate with the mining companies to defend the mine because the mine is their asset and their livelihood depends on it. Let us look at the issues of peace and security from that angle and not simply a question of police and military participation.
Mr Speaker, the towns and villages around mines tend to be the most expensive because their lands are taken away, agriculture declines and food naturally becomes expensive because there is an influx of people who are attracted to the mine; there is an immediate population increase and that increases the cost of living. Rent becomes expensive, food becomes expensive, and all services become expensive. This brings a certain toll on the lives of the indigenes of the place.
Let us begin to look at how when a mine is sited, the mining company would invest in major commercial and agricultural enterprises not far away from the mines because their presence there attracts the population. The communities need food and sustainably, they need to produce the food close by so once the mining companies are investing in all the heavy equipment to do mining, they should invest in large-scale commercial farms not far away to produce food for the people they have attracted in order to maintain the cost of food and livelihood in the community.
Mr Speaker, I have commenced discussion with some of the leaders of the mining companies for us to have some conference around these ideas and themes to see how communities around mines can share the resources that are in the mines. Within the mines, there are finance officers who know how to go to the international financial market to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to invest in the mines. Yet, the assemblies that are there do not even have the capacity to raise municipal bonds and they need those municipal bonds to fix toilets, schools and water systems in the community.
Mr Speaker, we have mining companies that would go and buy Articulated Dump Truck (ADT); the most sophisticated and biggest mining equipment and yet, just a few bulldozers to fix the roads in the district are not there. All these resources are in the mines. How would we as a Government build on these resources for the development of the towns and communities immediately surrounding the mines? If we did that, things would not escalate to the point where there would be a question of shooting and killing.
So, I would agree with our Colleagues that the Ministers should come and brief us but because these are sensitive matters, the briefings would be at the Committee of the Whole. We should commit to keeping the information within us and not use it in our politics in the communities in a way that would undermine the effort to ensure law and order. Because nobody would know where one would be anywhere in the country. One can think that it is Bibiani.
On a day that there would be an outbreak of conflict, one may have gone to Bibiani to attend a schoolmate’s funeral and get caught up in the violence. Security anywhere in the world is security that is meant for all of us so we must all collectively support the Ministers to do their work and ensure that there is law and order. On that note,
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much.
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