Newmont Africa has announced that it is waiting for the reports of the investigations conducted by the Ghana Police Service and the National Investigation Bureau, to understand and address the root cause of recent shootings at Kenyasi, one of its host communities.
A statement issued in Accra by the Regional Senior Vice President – Africa Operations, David Thornton, and copied the Ghanaian Times yesterday, stated that the company regarded the investigation reports as paramount.
“We expect that all those found culpable after the investigations will be made to face the law. It is important that we understand the underlying root causes and immediate triggers of the unfortunate incident and ensure that it never happens again,” he said.
The statement related to a recent shooting and rioting incident, which unfortunately claimed the life of one community member and injured four others, including members of the company’s workforce.
It said the injured had since been treated and discharged.
Newmont Africa is the country’s leading gold producer and operates two gold mines— the Ahafo Mine in the Ahafo region and the Akyem Mine in the Eastern Region.
The company reported that a group of people suspected to be residents of neighboring communities attacked its residential facilities at Ahafo South mine, after they overran the camp security and entered the residential camp.
It said they looted and vandalised both company and personal properties, and put the lives of the onsite school children, employees and their families at risk. Some employees and contractors who were going to work, and others on their way back home were attacked and their vehicles destroyed.
The statement further noted that, although, the company valued the relationship it had nurtured with its host communities, “such unjustified acts of aggression, vandalism and violence undermine the partnership”.
It continued that such acts of violence could potentially threaten the socio-economic development host communities could derive from mining.
BY TIMES REPORTER NEWMONT
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