Anglogold Ashanti Workers Beat Up Journalist

ABOUT THREE thousand workers of AngloGold Ashanti at Obuasi on Tuesday descended heavily on The Chronicle correspondent at Obuasi, Mr. Albert Nana Asante and beat him mercilessly at a meeting that the company's own union had invited him to attend for coverage.

He is currently since Tuesday, on admission at the AGA hospital and at the time of going to press, has not yet been discharged.

According to Nana Asante, he was invited to the AGA club house by the company's local union of the Ghana Mines Workers Union to cover a meeting of the union to be addressed by leaders of the local branch about the workers conditions of service.

At the meeting, the workers resolved to embark on an indefinite strike if management of AngloGold Ashanti fails to meet their demands within 13 days.

Though the entire demands of the workers were not known by this paper, The Chronicle could reveal that salary increment was the main agenda.

While the workers were demanding 16% increase of salary, the management was prepared to give them 9%, resulting in the threat of a strike action.

The threat of the workers became more serious when the local union Chairman, Mr. Jyakari Kwarko declared: "We are giving them up to the end of 23rd of this month and if we hear nothing from them, we will embark on a strike action" and asked the workers to wear red arm bands to show management their seriousness.

The Chairman added," We can no longer sit down unconcerned for management to take us for a ride".

And in attempt by this reporter to get pictures for his story, the workers thought he was a management spy who had come in to watch proceedings and report back to management.

The about 3,000 workers then pounced on him and close to 20 minutes subjected him to severe beatings. Seeing the carnage by his workers, the Chairman of the local union shouted, "Please, leave him. We invited him to cover this programme so he is not an enemy to us".

After this reporter has been rescued from the jaws of the workers, the entire union executives, led by its Chairman, apologised profusely on behalf of the workers.

The reporter was sent to the company's hospital and admitted since then, while the union executive had promised to foot the total bill to be incurred at the hospital. The reporter is yet to report the assault to the Police.

The impending strike action tagged "the mother of all strikes", would be the first in about some eight years after the famous 1999 strike that rocked the company then known as Ashanti Goldfield Company.