Tension is brewing at Dannso, a community in the Bosome-Freho district of the Ashanti region over the introduction of a community mining scheme in the area.
The irate residents are of the view that mining in the town will threaten the existence of their only source of drinking water-River Dane.They have, subsequently, called on His Royal Majesty, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to intervene.
Addressing a news conference at Dannso, which is a farming community, Mr. Kwaku Tawiah (Ahoufe),Spokesperson for the Concerned Group expressed worry over the intention to introduce mining in the area.
Ahoufe indicated that mining at Dannso will threaten their very survival and that it could result in the drying up of River Dane.
Ahoufe, who spoke in the Twi dialect, accused the chief of Dannso, Nana Opoku Kyei, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Bosome-Freho, Kofi Adu Amoateng and the Member of Parliament for the area, Akwasi Darko Boateng (ADB) for orchestrating what he described as “Environmental Suicide”.
“This menace involves the chief of Dannso, Nana Opoku Kyei, and other leaders like Akwasi Darko, Member of Parliament for the area and the DCE of Bosome-Freho, Kofi Adu Amoateng,” Ahoufe alleged at the news conference.
According to him, the former DCE for the area was dismissed because of galamsey related issues, and when President Akufo Addo appointed Adu Amoateng as the new DCE, they were hoping their new DCE would take a cue from what happened to his predecessor, but that is not the case.
“The former DCE was axed due to galamsey and we thought we had gotten a new DCE to end this galamsey. Alas, it has exacerbated. We are against this community mining at Dannso because it will destroy our land, water and our livelihood.
“We have only one water body in our community, which we use for several purposes. We drink from River Dane, use it to water our crops and for domestic uses”, he said.
Reacting to the complaints of the Concerned Group of Danso, the Chief of Danso, Nana Poku Kyei denied his involvement in deliberations which led to the introduction of community mining in the area.
He argued that as a traditional leader, he has no locus to bring community mining to Danso.
Asked if indeed River Dane would be affected by community mining, he could not give a definite answer, except to say that the programme was introduced by the government through the assembly.
According to him,during the inauguration of the community mining, he was not even allowed to speak, so he could not talk about it.
When Mr. Kofi Adu Amoateng,the District Chief Executive (DCE) for BosomeFreho was contacted last year, hedisclosed to The Chronicle that nobody had reported any issue of potential environmental challenge associated with the community mining at Danso to him.
“Personally, I do not know the rationale behind the demonstrations the community has been staging. As I sit here, I would ensure that their water project is completed before they start the community mining project.
The community mining, according to Adu Amoateng, started long before he was sworn into office as the DCE for Bosome-Freho.
“The processes of launching the community mining started sometime in March (last year) and I assumed office in August”, he said.
He denied accusation that River Dane risks being polluted, emphasising that work had not commenced.
“I do not have any idea that there is a galamsey activity going on along River Dane. It is just that some people are only trying to be saboteurs. Some people are trying to gamble with these lands for illegal mining activity and the MP of my community stopped it.
“Those people who wanted to conduct illegal mining are the same people who are rallying against the community mining.”
Asked about when the community mining will start, Kofi Boateng told The Chronicle that he did not know the exact time. When this reporter further asked him about financiers of the mining project, he answered that “I don’t know. I know that some people started this programme before my coming, so I know that some people are going to do the work.”
Mr. Akwasi Darko Boateng (ADB), the Member of Parliament (MP) for BosomeFreho, when contacted, told this reporter that he works in Accra and that, it is the DCE who works at the district level, so he cannot comment on the issue.
