BRACE Project Facilitates Knowledge Sharing Among Mining-Impacted Communities

As part of the EU-funded BRACE project, Wacam, in collaboration with A Rocha Ghana and Nature and Development Foundation (NDF), has facilitated an exchange visit for approximately 60 participants from mining-impacted communities in the Western and Western North Regions.

The visit, held on May 20-21, 2025, aimed to foster knowledge sharing, capacity building, and sustainable development among local communities

The participants visited Brahabebome, a mining impacted community in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality, where they learned how residents here successfully leveraged Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) and a 2017 Commission on Human Rights Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) report to halt Gold Fields Ghana Limited (GGFL) operations in nearby pits.

They were also taken to Tarkwa Banso Old Town, also in the same municipal assembly, where 58 community members are seeking justice at the Tarkwa High Court for adequate compensation and resettlement from Ghana Manganese Company (GMC), facilitating cross-learning and collaboration.

At Brahabebome, Mr. Frank Mintah, Wacam Zonal Officer and Secretary of the Brahabebome Landlords Association, recounted the community's efforts to halt GFGL's operations in nearby pits.  He explained that their struggles began in 2014 when GFGL's blasting activities damaged their homes. 

After GFGL failed to address their concerns, the community joined Wacam and, through training workshops on Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) and the Minerals and Mining Act, became empowered to assert their rights and demand accountability from GFGL.

"As part of our strategy to hold GFGL accountable, we wrote to several regulatory agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Minerals Commission, Water Resource Commission (WRC), the Municipal and District Chief Executives, and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mining, among others," he recalled. 

Mr. Mintah added that the community also petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), which conducted an investigation and found that GFGL's operations in the community contravened the Minerals and Mining Act.

“Empowered by Wacam and emboldened by the 2017 CHRAJ report, we organised a series of press conferences and demonstrations, which ultimately compelled GFGL to cease operations in the five pits near our community," he said.

The Chairman of Tarkwa Wacam Zone, Mr. Emmanuel Brew Armoo, encouraged the participants to remain resolute and not waver in their struggles. 

“Stay united and also ensure that you gather loads of evidence, as that plays a critical role in our struggles against mining companies,” he intimated.
  
Wacam's Technical Director, Lawyer Kwaku Afari, advised participants to meticulously document evidence when their properties and rights are infringed upon in their communities. 

"When infractions occur, take pictures of your destroyed properties as evidence," he emphasised, noting that this documentation is crucial for building strong cases in court.

While at Tarkwa Banso Old Town, the Secretary of the Tarkwa Zone, Wacam Mr. Albert Kingsley Prah, told the participants how about 58 community members were in court seeking adequate and resettlement packages from GMC.

The exchange participants were also conducted around a natural lake in Tarkwa Banso which has now become polluted as a result of GMC’s operations.
  
Earlier in forum, the Associate Executive Director of Wacam, Mrs. Hannah Owusu-Koranteng, addressed the exchange participants on "Conflicts Around Natural Extraction In Ghana." 

She identified the lack of a land use plan and violations of the Minerals and Mining Act (Act 703) as key factors contributing to conflicts between mining activities and other land uses. 

Additionally, she highlighted that compensation and resettlement practices by mining companies have been a source of tension in mining communities nationwide. 

Despite Act 703's provisions for prompt payment of fair and adequate compensation, she lamented that this was often not the case in many mining-affected communities.

Mrs. Owusu-Koranteng also acknowledged that community members often bear some responsibility for accepting inadequate compensation. 
"We, the community members impacted by mining, are sometimes to blame for rushing to accept whatever compensation is offered by mining companies, only to regret it later," she said.

Against this backdrop, she stressed the need for community members impacted by mining to conduct thorough assessments of their destroyed properties and consider long-term sustainability before entering into negotiations with mining companies.