Reported eviction of Cassius from Gbane False – ‘True leaders’ react

A group of persons calling themselves “the true leaders of Gbane” have distanced themselves from reports suggesting that the community, found in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region, is kicking against the stay of the Cassius Mining Company in the area.

A media report emerged this week about some alleged opinion leaders who purportedly issued a press statement against the company in their bid to get it ejected from the community.

In a counter statement issued to the press on Wednesday through the Secretary to the late Chief of Gbane, Tiiroug Zumah, the “true leaders” described those behind the media report as impostors and their action against the customs of the traditional area.

They entreated the public to treat the claims made by the “self-declared” leaders with contempt it deserves and called on the state security agencies to closely monitor the actions and utterances of the said impostors.

Below is a copy of the counter statement issued by the “true leaders” of Gbane:

TRUE LEADERS OF GBANE COUNTER CLAIMS MADE AGAINST CASSIUS MINING COMPANY BY SELF-PROFESSED LEADERS OF GBANE

We the true indigenes and leaders of Gbane dissociate ourselves from the statement put out this week by the self-declared natives of Gbane in relation to an online news publication dated Monday October 14, 2019, on the matter of the Cassius Mining Company being chased away by the leaders of Gbane.

Frankly speaking, it is never true that the leaders of Gbane are chasing the company out of the community. I, Tiiroug Zumah, am one of the leaders of Gbane and my portfolio has been that I am elderly, I served as the Secretary to the late chief of the traditional area and my father is a leader of the Gbane community and a true indigene as well.

Gbane is composed of four sections namely Gban Pard, Gban Tasuug, Gban Daan and Gban Datok. No leader or elder from these sections sanction any act of eviction of any mining company.

Other sectional heads, including Teng, Mazina and others are all not in the know and will not be violent in chasing any miner out of the community much less a law-abiding company from Australia like the Cassius Mining Company. It beats our imagination for some people to be sponsored by their paymasters who are known to be the Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited to go all out and drag the name of Gbane, including Talenteng, into a fabricated act of chasing miners or a mining company away from our land.

We the indigenes of Gbane do not have the locus in sacking even illegal miners and we see this as orchestrated by the people namely John Milim who is a member of the Talensi District Assembly. He is never a citizen of Gbane. He is never an indigene of Gbane. He is from Gaare. He is not from Gbane. How then did he become a leader of Gbane? He cannot be a leader in Gbane. And so the Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited should know him and should know whom to use against Gbane. Someone is also mentioned in their statement as a tindana. The only tindana who is responsible for the mining area is called Koutoubang. This is the man who acts on behalf of the late father, the tindana, and he is responsible for the entire mining area under the Gbane Traditional Area. Where are those names from? Even though we acknowledge that he also acts as a tindana, he has no responsibility whatsoever on the mining area. How then can he say he is a leader and he is chasing people away?

On a more serious note, the Chief of Gbane is at large. Only God knows when he is coming back to the Gbane Traditional Area. Now, in this case, even in the absence of the chief, as custom demands, it is his son who acts on behalf of the father, not his brothers. So, for anybody to sit there and hold himself out as the chief, especially Elijah Nabil, it is very, very wrong. And we, hereby, send a very strong warning to him to desist from that or face the wrath of the true leaders of Gbane.

We are also mindful of some the allegations levelled against the Cassius Mining Company in a publication by the Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA). There is empirical evidence to show that NORPRA was sponsored by Yenyeya and Pubortaaba in collaboration with their masters, the Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited, to drag the other rival mining companies into disrepute and we will not tolerate that.

The Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited has masterminded the idea of dividing the Gbane community and ruling it because of their interest. We hereby wish to call on the relevant state security agencies to be mindful of any story that comes out from the bearers of the names listed in the publication because they are said to be on the payroll of the Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited. The Alhaji Fahad Bagmeritamme, who is said to be an opinion leader, is a security man with the Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited. Elijah Nabil is the chief security of the Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited. John Milim is the assembly member of the electoral area. He is alleged to have been given a motorbike by the Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited and he has not been able to defend himself on that allegation.

If they claim they are leaders of Shaanxi, so be it. But we the indigenes of Gbane will not allow any settler or any unpatriotic citizen to drag Gbane into ill repute. So, we are asking the general public to treat all the allegations about leaders of Gbane chasing Cassius or any other mining company away with the contempt those that fabrication deserves. In any case, we are also mindful of that a report that was released on the deaths of the 17 small-scale miners this year makes it clear that the disaster was caused by the Yenyeya, Pubortaaba and their masters Shaanxi.

We are still mourning the 17 brothers that we lost and if the leaders of Gbane would have any business to do by chasing any company away, the company which deserves to be chased away must be Shaanxi. If we had any ill mind of chasing any company away, that company is Shaanxi, not any other company that we know. We stand for peace and development. And so we will not in any way consider sacking Cassius, sacking Savannah, sacking Shaanxi, sacking Cardinal for any allegations apparently orchestrated by their rivals. We will not do so because we respect and trust the state agencies to work well on our behalf.

We being the indigenes and the true leaders will by all means seek advice from the Paramountcy of Talenteng for any action we want to take but not to take to the social media to chase mining companies away. We wish that this would be the last attempt by people claiming to be leaders and making groundless statements about the community. The bearers of the names captured in that publication are not leaders of Gbane but workers of Shaanxi.

Signed and issued by:

Tiiroug Zumah, Former Secretary to the late Chief of Gbane.

Moses Mung Dazaam

Teng Dagberah

Nongzor Siegn

Michael Tindana Sapak

Tindaan Singbil Kutuobang

Mathew Ali