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Introduction
An invasion of an abandoned underground mining site belonging to mining giant AngloGold Ashanti Ghana Limited at Obuasi left at least seven people dead, with scores injured, the Ghana Armed Forces said.
For media reports about the incident, see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
The Government later pegged the number of deaths at eight in a clash that security experts say has angered Obuasi residents, stoking an age-old feud between small-scale miners and the mine’s management.
“We believe this situation underscores the urgent need for open dialogue, mutual respect, and responsible corporate and community engagement,” Oheneba Nana Kofi Poku, a community engagement expert, advised.
Mining in Obuasi
Obuasi is in southern Ghana and the capital of the Obuasi Municipal District, located in the Ashanti region. Nestled in a hilly region 141 miles, approximately 227 kilometres from Accra, the town has been home to substantial gold deposits since its discovery in 1897.
Obuasi maintains its enviable position as one of Ghana’s primary gold-producing towns and one of the earth’s largest gold deposits. The Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC), established in 1897, operated an underground mine in Obuasi in 1907.
AngloGold is a South African-based gold mining company with the majority share owned by the Anglo-American group. The company and Ghanaian-owned Ashanti Goldfields announced a merger after the High Court approved it. This led to the formation of AngloGold Ashanti on April 26, 2004.
Underdevelopment and unemployment in Obuasi
The Ghana 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) findings revealed that the Obuasi Municipality has a population of 104,297. The total population consists of 51,885 males and 52,412 females.
The Obuasi township’s underdevelopment has been said to be the opposite of the situation in Johannesburg, a South African mining township transformed by mining money.
Poor road networks, particularly in rural areas, have affected the local economy in the Ghanaian mining township. Although AngloGold Ashanti continues to attend to the town’s needs, the situation has not improved much.
Also, Obuasi’s unemployment rate is high, compelling the youth to resort to small-scale mining to support themselves and their families. Agriculture, which used to be the mainstay of the local economy, has lost its appeal because agricultural lands are being mined.
Researchers identified the following issues affecting the Obuasi Municipality: high sexual abuse due to poverty, health issues attributed to air pollution, limited participation of local people in governance issues, and health issues attributed to tremors and vibrations from the mines.
See pages 11 and 12 of the research report here.
Reacting to why Obuasi cannot boast of Johannesburg’s development, Sir Sam Jonah, an ex-chief Executive Officer of AngloGold Ashanti, explained:
“The difference is that Johannesburg, owners of the mine were South Africans although whites, so they had nowhere else to take their money. So, they invested the money in their town and applied the taxes in the town and the country.”
However, he said the mining giant “modernised schools in terms of physical facilities, helped the local secondary school, extended the facilities at the hospital so that everybody else could go there and not just dependents of the company.”
However, the situation is different in Obuasi.
AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine rolled out a 10-year socio-economic development plan to invest in the township’s development from 2022 to 2031 to address that disparity. The social investment will cover education, technology and innovation, employment and job creation, environment, social inclusion, ownership, and sustainability.
The Jan. 18, 2025, bloody clash: Two accounts, one tragic story
Ghana’s military opened fire on some small-scale miners who went to an abandoned underground mine in Obuasi belonging to mining giant AngloGold Ashanti.
While the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) says its men killed seven out of the 60 miners reported to have invaded the mine, residents pegged the number at nine. Also, the government, in a statement, said at least eight people died in the clash.
A statement signed by Brigadier General E. Aggrey-Quashie, the GAF Director-General of Public Relations, said the miners breached the mine’s security fence armed with locally manufactured rifles, gas cylinders, heavy-duty industrial bolt cutters, pump-action guns, axes, machetes, and knives.
“The troops returned fire in self-defence. The shootout led to the death of seven illegal miners and one seriously injured. The remaining illegal miners bolted away,” the GAF said.
The mining giant AngloGold Ashanti confirmed the tragic incident. It said its primary concern is the “safety and health of all our employees and those in our community who this incident has directly impacted.”
However, some miners who survived the incident have challenged the GAF account of the clash.
Baba, one of the survivors of the clash, told Accra-based JOY NEWS that:
“Those of us there were more than 300. When the soldiers came, they came to park their vehicles. And the commander stepped back to receive a call during which ourwhich. During that time, our leaders gotwere on their knees, pleading with them. After the call, he corked his gun and opened fire on us. They shot for almost 30 minutes.”
A frustrated Baba quizzed:
“What wrong have we done AGA? We are living in our own town, but you’re denying us food, and now you are killing us. Everyone finds livelihood from the community they live in, and so must we. We didn’t go to where the company is working. We went to an abandoned site.”
Schools in the Obuasi Municipality are closed following the clash until peace returns to the community.
Also, some of the deceased miners had been laid to rest.
Meanwhile, Ghanaian journalist Blessed Godsbrain Smart, popularly called Captain Smart, has been widely blamed on social media for inciting the miners.
For social media posts blaming the journalist, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.
“Ghanaian youth in Obuasi go into the pit. Go in a group. Everyone should go and find something to live on. Go there. Listen, if AGA [AngloGold Ashanti], if you guys don’t take care, we will chase you out of this country. Listen, can you put a cyanide hole, almost 100 metres, in South Africa?
Commenting on the allegations, an X user @Mr_pee13 asked
“Are we right to blame Captain Smart @CaptainSmart_tv and Onua TV for what happened at Obuasi?”
But he has reacted to the accusations. Smart said he did not owe anyone an explanation for his comment. The Accra-based Onua TV Morning Show host said the video in circulation was filmed in June 2023, when the miners were working in the “abandoned pit.”
“Whoever is pushing anybody to use an old video as if the incident happened after my comment in the video…[See] the video was made in June 2023,” Smart said.
But the Executive Secretary of the National Media Commission, Mr George Sarpong, in a discussion on a Newsfile programme, rebuked Captain Smart’s explanation, describing it as a betrayal of his limited knowledge of media effects.
Reactions after the Obuasi shooting incident
The government has condemned the killing, describing it as an “unfortunate incident.” President John Mahama has ordered an “immediate” investigation to determine the cause of the bloody clash and persons found culpable dealt with according to the law.
Also, the government has directed AngloGold Ashanti to “bear the medical expenses of the injured individuals fully and to facilitate the burial arrangements for those who have lost their lives.”
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) berated the Armed Forces on how they handled the situation. “Violence can never win,” the GJA said, adding “Inasmuch as we do not condone illegality, we think there should be better ways of engagement among the parties to resolve concerns.”
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has described miners’ invasion of AngloGold Ashanti’s abandoned mine as “unacceptable.”
“It is not acceptable. People cannot say that because we want to eat, we have to take over mine. That can’t be done. We are not living in a Banana Republic. The law must be obeyed,” Asantehene said.
He explained it is “Unacceptable for people to take the law into their own hands, to go and disturb legitimate business which AngloGold and Obuasi are intertwined. The community relies on the mining, and the mining company is also dependent on the community.”
But Sulemana Braimah, a development expert, believes Ghana’s political structure and deep-seated sense of entitlement are to blame for the bloody clash.
“I think these things happen as a result of, I mean, how our politics has been structured. Over the years, it has become a matter of your party being in power, and it’s your time to benefit. This mindset is not just at the grassroots level but extends from the community and district levels to the regional and even national levels,” he told Accra-based JOY NEWS.
Seasoned Ghanaian journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr. said: “The numerous countries where gold and oil mining [go] on must also benefit from it.”
The Insight Newspaper Managing Editor cautioned, “If the country doesn’t benefit from such activities, it breeds agitations.”
Responding to the incident, Governance expert Dr Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah has advised Ghanaian youth to assess their actions. “You have to be controlled by your head, not your heart,” he said.
Conclusion
The government has initiated the process to restore peace and calm in Obuasi. However, experts have cautioned that permanent peace can only be achieved if residents are presented with an alternative means of livelihood.
