Mine Workers Union call for reinstatement of security personnel

Accra, Feb. 13, GNA - The Ghana Mine Workers Union (GMWU) has called for immediate reinstatement of the security personnel at the Anglogold Ashanti Obuasi Mine, saying it is interested in the events that led to their withdrawal.

In a statement signed by Prince William Ankrah, General Secretary of the Union on Friday, said the Union was not happy with the 'abrupt withdrawal of the military from the company's concession; mindful of the ever present threat and danger posed by the illegal miners.'

The statement followed the death of AngloGold's Head of Communications John Owusu, who was run over by a company vehicle in an attempt to escape from some illegal miners ('galamsey') who attacked him and others on February 6.

The statement condemned in no uncertain terms the bizarre and barbaric developments by the illegal miners.

It said it was increasingly getting worried with the Government's slow posture in dealing with the 'galamsey' menace in spite of the colossal damage their activities were impacting on the mining industry and the environment at large.

The statement said AngloGold Ashanti's concession at Obuasi is one of the biggest gold deposits in the country and if such strategic national asset could come under attack and receive such sluggish response, then anything could happen to smaller concessions and ancillary companies in the industry.

'It is important to underscore that the shameful development in Obuasi has serious implications and far reaching consequences for the industry and the country in the eyes of the international investor community as well as the other stakeholders if not attended to with the urgency it deserves,' it said.

The statement said, currently, the company's management, in a desperate move to protect life and property, has initiated an adhoc plan that has affected close to two hundred direct jobs and many more indirect jobs.

This, in no doubt, has exacerbated the current operational predicaments of a company that has scaled down operations for re-engineering purposes in recent times, it said.

The statement said the Union expressed its deepest condolences to the family of John Owusu, Head of Communications.

In a related development, the Union also expressed concerned about the AngloGold Ashanti-Randgold Partnership, which was intended to usher in the operational phase of the turnaround processes but got abrogated under strange circumstances.

The statement said the Union was aware that AngloGold Ashanti had not elapsed the period of its turnaround activities but information reaching the Union indicates that the company could not single-handedly resuscitate the Obuasi operations.

'In our view, however, we see the development as a great investment opportunity for government to take advantage of the public private partnership arrangement, venture into mining in a large scale and up its stake to leverage on such partnership deals and increase its influence in the formal subsector of the industry.'

It said the experience of former Ashanti Gold Fields operations prior to the introduction of the Economic Recovery Program that subsequently attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) into the sector in the late 1980s could help.

GNA