Regional Minister condemns mob actions, murders

Sunyani, June 1, GNA - Mr. Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, on Friday condemned the spate of murders in some parts of the region and said this had created fear among the people. He also condemned mob actions that had become rampant in the region and described the practice as "highly unacceptable".

"It is obvious that people are not respecting the rule of law these days and we cannot sit down as leaders and look on and accept such practices as normal because the consequences are mostly fatal", he said. Mr Baffour-Awuah said this at the first Regional Coordinating Council meeting in Sunyani.

He said the situation had created panic among residents, especially farmers, who could not go about their normal activities. The regional minister said Atronie and Acherensua had experienced six murders within the past six months, while Sunyani and Berekum had also experienced such gruesome acts.

He said he had directed both the Regional Security Council and the District Security Councils to investigate the incidents and find lasting solutions to them.

Mr. Baffour-Awuah assured residents that efforts would be made to clamp down on the perpetrators of the devilish acts to ensure adequate security in the region.

Mr. Baffour-Awuah said a monitoring and evaluation team had been formed by the council to ensure effective and proper execution of projects undertaken by the assemblies.

The team's responsibility is to evaluate programmes such as budget preparation, award of contracts, financial returns, visits to ongoing projects, especially those being financed by the government and called for co-operation with the team in the discharge of its duties. The regional minister called for greater interest in the school feeding programme to ensure that the children were fed with good food and urged them to get actively involved in the re-denomination exercise to ensure a smooth take off of the new currency next July. Newmont Ghana Gold Company presented the draft of the Ahafo Social Responsibility Forum Agreement between the company and the communities within its operational areas to the council for discussion and suggestions.

Professor Daniel Mireku-Gyimah, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mines at Tarkwa and moderator of the Forum, explained that the draft was aimed at ensuring the company's commitment to sustainable development in the operational areas.

He said the company made a commitment one-and-half years ago that one dollar per ounce of gold poured and one percent of the net profit from the Ahafo Mine would be set aside in a community development fund for the sustainable development of the communities. The various stakeholders agreed to establish the fund, the first of its kind in the country, to provide the communities with the opportunity to participate in the company's decisions.

Prof Mireku-Gyimah said the fund was expected to yield a minimum of 500,000 dollars per annum as long as the mine was active and projects to be undertaken with the fund included human resource development, provision of infrastructure and social amenities. He said all the parties involved, including chiefs, Newmont, the communities and the assemblies had roles to play in maintaining transparency, peace and harmony to bring about peaceful co-existence and developments. 01 June 07