Day: November 24, 2023

Dr. Mrs Theresah Baah-Ennumh, a Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, says compensations and resettlement packages offered to communities affected by mining should not make them ‘victims’.

‘Beneficiaries of resettlements should not be victims. People should be compensated with packages that are better than what they had, or they should be given a similar package to what they had previously.

‘Mining firms should compensate or resettle communities, so they become better.’

Dr Mrs Baah- Ennumh was speaking at the National Dialogue on resettlement and compensation in mining communities in Accra.

The programme held by Centre for Social Impact Studies CeSIS in collaboration with Third World Network, Africa (TWN-Africa) brought together experts, opinion leaders, policy makers and community leaders.

The occasion was used to outdoor research conducted by CeSIS in three communities in the Ashanti Region, which are facingchallenges in relation to settlement and
compensation.

The communities are: Dokyiwa, Anwiam and New Bediem.

Dr Mrs Baah-Ennumh, noted that challenges facing Anwiam such as destruction of properties during blasting by Anglo Gold Ashanti and inability for school children to attend school when it rained, called for investigations by State agencies.

Among other challenges faced by the people of Anwiam were restrictions on free movement, blockade of easy access routes to township, and frequent invasion of community by security agencies on the request of AngloGold Ashanti.

In the case of Dokyiwa and New Bediem, the inhabitants are having cracks in their buildings, lack of potable water, and poor compensation packages.

She noted that some communities were deprived of their settlements as a result of improper negotiations by some experts and urged the communities to hold those experts responsible.

The Senior Lecturer urged communities to also take a critical look at the long-term effects of compensation offered to them by mining companies.

On alterna
tive livelihood, she said jobs offered to the youth should be sustainable and appealing.

Mr Robert Tanti Ali, Executive Director, CeSis, said despite the contribution of the mining to Ghana’s economy, it came with some challenges that could not be overlooked.

Mr Benjamin Aryee, an Advisor on Mining to the Minister of Lands Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, said it was important for communities to be involved in negotiations and said it was unethical for compensations and resettlements to make community dwellers victims of circumstances.

Mr Eric Anaane Ndebugri, Programmes Officer, CeSIS, who presented the research report, noted that communities were underserved because they lacked or had limited bargaining power when dealing with transnational corporations.

The research was carried out in 2022.

Mr Ndebugri said to address some of the issues relating to compensation and resettlements, communities should be educated on the Minerals and Minig Act, 2006 Act 703 and the 2012, LI 2175.

According to hi
m, the report showed that mining companies, government bodies and traditional authorities had more influence in such negotiations while communities’ interests were less.

He urged Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to continue to build the capacities of communities on relevant laws on resettlement and compensation.

Mr Stephen Agbo, Deputy Manager and a Social Scientists at the Minerals Commission, said issues raised by the communities would be investigated and addressed by the Commission.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has debunked reports in a section of the media that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was on the verge of collapse.

It assured that the Scheme was financially stable and remained committed to providing uninterrupted and quality healthcare services to the millions of Ghanaians who depended on it.

It also called on the media to exercise diligence when reporting on matters related to the NHIS, ‘to avoid propagating inaccurate or misleading information that could undermine public confidence in the Scheme.’

In a statement released Thursday, November 23 and copied Ghana News Agency, the NHIA said it had taken notice of a story attributed to the Dormaahene, Oseadeeyo Agyeman Badu II, in a section of the media, which created the impression that the Scheme was collapsing.

The NHIA said although it appreciated the call for the government to allocate the full revenue from the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) to the Scheme, ‘it was not comfortable with th
e media narrative suggesting that the NHIS was facing impending collapse due to the government’s failure to provide the full NHIL.’

The Authority also reiterated its commitment to working closely with the government to ensure that the NHIL is adequately funded to meet the healthcare needs of Ghanaians.

The NHIA assured that it had been consistent with the payment of claims to healthcare facilities, an average of GHS150 million every 30 days, particularly over the past two years.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Stakeholders in the road safety ecosystem have expressed worry over how theft and vandalism of traffic and streetlights by thieves and road users are hampering efforts to promote road safety in the country.

The stakeholders, which comprise individuals, organisations, State agencies, security services, and academia, have called for stringent measures to stop the occurrences, especially in the capital and major cities.

According to the Department of Urban Roads, 29 per cent of traffic lights in the country were non-functioning.

Mr. Appiah Adomako Baafi, Executive Director of CUTS International West Africa, said the situation had contributed immensely to road crashes.

He said some road signs were vandalised by miscreants who later sold them to scrap dealers and said street cameras should be fixed to track such people and drivers who hit them.

Sharing the academia’s perspective on how to curb stealing and vandalism of streets and traffic lights, Mr Lylord Thompson, a lecturer at the Academy City University,
advised the incorporation of technology.

He said the incorporation of technologies, including sensors would enable the Agencies to monitor the location of traffic and streetlights in real time and the location of the individuals who stole them.

He advised the Agencies to build a smart system for citizens to make input and report incidents of theft to the control centre.

Chief Superintendent Alexander Kwaku Obeng, Director of Public Affairs, Motor Traffic and Transportation Department, Ghana Police Service, said the absence of traffic lights made traffic direction difficult.

The multistakeholder engagement was organised by the NRSA ahead of the Christmas festivities.

Source: Ghana News Agency