Some angry youth of the Ahafo Region are at a loss as to why nobody has so far been arrested or prosecuted for any of the shooting incidents that have been recurring on Newmont’s mining site in Ahafo almost every year.
A Police detachment stationed at Newmont’s Ahafo Mine claims it has been sent there by the National Police Headquarters and that the District Police Command at Kenyasi, capital of the Asutifi North District, has no power or authority over their activities since they take instructions only from Accra.
According to the youth, anytime people are shot and killed by these security men acting on the instructions of Newmont and their bosses at the Police headquarters in Accra, the case eventually becomes “a foolish case” as the perpetrators go scot free all the time, emboldening them to keep shooting, killing and stabbing people to death every now and then.
To this end, this Police detachment together with Newmont’s security detail on site have made it a habit of shooting and killing anyone they consider to be encroaching on the mining company’s concession without employing any reasonable means of dealing with the issue.
January 8 shooting
On Wednesday January 8, 2025, for instance, the police shot at some youth of Acherensua, one of the near-mine communities of Newmont, killing three persons instantly and injuring about four others.
This followed a misunderstanding between the Police and the youth, who wanted to convey some waste rocks of the company for further artisanal mining activities.
In the process, the police fired at the youth, killing the three young men instantly.
Justice delayed, justice denied
Barely two months after this incident, nobody has been arrested or prosecuted for his involvement in the case.
Newmont has remained tight-lipped and has conveniently not issued any official statement on the matter as at the time of filing this report. Also, Newmont has neither made any attempt to reach out to those who were injured to offer any form of assistance nor visit the families of those who were shot and killed on the company’s site by the police. Government officials are also silent about the issue, leaving the victims and their relatives to their fate.
“A team of police investigators and a pathologist were here soon after the incident to conduct some preliminary investigations into the matter as well undertake a post-mortem of those shot dead. After that they met the Acherensua queen-mother and a few of the youth. Since then, nothing has been heard from anybody again”, Haruna Yakubu, a brother of one of the deceased told rbnewshub.com in an exclusive interview.
According to Haruna, the posture of Newmont and the police has created fear and panic among workers of the company who stay in Acherensua, to the extent that these workers live in fear.
“Now, the company’s buses that used to convey workers to work have stopped coming to pick them. The workers are afraid of possible reprisal attacks on them by the Acherensua youth and so they now sneak out of the town to work and return in the same fashion. They carry out their activities Nicodemusly but unknown to them, we are aware of all that. Our queen-mother has spoken to us and has calmed us down and that is the only reason why we’re quite”, Haruna added.
He said the youth intend to meet with the queen-mother after which they will make further moves, saying: “the youth of the area are apprehensive about the handling of the issue and will soon take steps to fight for their rights.”
“My direct brother was among those who were shot dead by the Police on that day. I was part of the team that conveyed both the dead and the injured from the scene of the incident to the hospital. I was also with the Police investigating team from Accra that also visited the scene and conducted some preliminary investigations.”
“Nothing has also been heard from the Police or Newmont since this cruel act. Officials of Newmont have not bothered to visit the injured or cater for their hospital bills. In my opinion, the least the company should have done is to issue an apology to those injured as well reach out to them to see how they are faring.”
“Also, no amount of money can bring back those who were gruesomely killed but it is just courteous and proper for their families to be compensated”, Haruna further said.
Funeral rites
In the meantime, the final funeral rites of the three young men whose lives were truncated by the Police who were acting at the instance of Newmont Ahafo Mine on January 8, 2025, was held in Acherensua on the 30th of January this year.
Scores of innocent young people are alleged to have been shot dead by these Policemen while dozens of others have sustained various degrees of injury since Newmont’s operations in the area nearly 20 years ago.
As a result, there is uneasy calm in Acherensua in the Ahafo Region following the loud silence of Newmont Ahafo Mine for about two months over the killing of three young men by the Police on the company’s mining site on 8th January 2025.
(Email: rbnewsh@gmail.com)
