Abuses And Unjustice Against Saaman Must Stop

Youth for Action Ghana wish to

express our uttermost disgust at the unjustifiable abuses and glaring

injustices being allowed to be visited on the people of Saaman, near Osino,

in the Eastern Region by Solar Mining, in its adamant resolve to pursue its

commercial interest at the expense of the peace and economic survival of

the people.

Solar Mining had been

prospecting for gold illegally in the community in partnership with Kibi Goldfieds.

And under the guise of prospecting, the company has been using the police

and the military to unjustifiably harass people in the community, and also

destroyed a number of water bodies, including River Akusu and River Anoma

which are among the main sources of water supply to the community. Agents

of the company have also been entering the farms of the people illegally.

We recall the unlawful arrest

and detention of the Assemblyman for the area and 14 others by the Eastern

Regional police, and their subsequent release without any charge being

preferred against them.

Perhaps, the worst of the abuses

is the decision by the Fanteakwa District Assembly to deny people in the

community their fair share of the national cake as a form of punishment for

the determination to fight for their rights in not contesting to the

illegal activities of Solar Mining.

The roofs of the block of the

local DA Primary School was ripped off as a result of heavy downpour. And

several requests made to the Assembly for the roofs to be fixed went

unheeded, simply because the people would not allow their rights to be

trampled upon my Solar Mining and its collaborators.

Under the laws of the country,

before a company can undertake any mining activity, the affected community

should give their prior consent, even with the right to say NO. Even after

giving the prior consent, mining activities cannot start until appropriate

compensation has been negotiated and payments made accordingly.

All these legal requirements

have not taken place, yet Solar Mining last week moved excavators and other

heavy duty equipment into the Saaman community, ostensibly to commence

actual mining.

Sensing that they would incur

the wrath of the people, officials of Solar Mining on Friday, November 18,

2011, sent soldiers to the community to harass the people who were

demonstrating against the movement of equipment into the area.

As it happened in the Arab

Spring, the people’s power prevailed over the coercive power of the

compromised state security, with women and children in particularly driving

out the soldiers from the community.

Already, the people have

resolved to use all means possible to resist the attempt by Solar Mining

and its partners to force their will down their throat. They have made

their position well articulated to the Environmental Protection Agency,

which is yet to respond appropriately to their position.

This situation, no doubt, has

the potential of creating chaos in the community and thereby affecting the

area’s peace and stability. And should anything untoward happen, EPA will

have to he held accountable.

We want to call all well-meaning

Ghanaian individuals and groups to rise up and join the people of Saaman to

fight for their rights. We cannot allow these abuses to continue in the mining

sector, especially when it has been universally acknowledged that mining

has been a curse for our country.

We are also calling on

government to move in to stop the company from further perpetration of

abuses on the people. We want government to know that it first and foremost

owes the good people of Saaman, and for that matter the entire nation, the

obligation of safeguarding their interest at all times, especially in the

face of abuses by individuals and groups seeking their parochial and

material gains at the expense of the wellbeing and survival of the people.

The people of Saamam say they

are content with their farming activities that had over the years remained

their main source of livelihood and their decision must be respected as

such.

Finally, we want to call on the

people of Saaman to remain firm and continue to use all legitimate means

available to them to resist the oppressors rule and fight for their rights.

Signed: James Kwabena

Bomfeh,

Executive |Director, Youth for Action Ghana

0244535472/0206921110

Samuel Kwabena Amankwah

Communication Director

Youth for Action Ghana0244217504