Civil Society Organisations (CSO) are demanding the Inspector General Of Police (IGP) Dr. George Akuffo-Dampare to conduct an independent investigation into a shooting incident that led to the death of three people at the Newmont gold mining site at Ntotroso in the Ahafo Region.
A statement signed jointly by a significant number of representatives of the CSOs was addressed to the IGP.
Kwaku Afari, the Technical Director, Wacam, Alhassan Iddrissu, the Legal Advocate, the Centre for Public Interest Law, and Dr Samuel Obiri, the Executive Director, Centre for Environmental Impact Analysis were some individuals who appended their signatures to the statement.
Others include Mr Raphael Ahenu, the Executive Director, Global Media Foundation and Mr Robert Tanti Ali, the Executive Director, Centre for Social Impact Studies.
“We are extremely concerned by the incident at Newmont’s Ahafo South mines, where reports indicate that police officers who were protecting Newmont’s site shot and killed three people and injured others on January 8, 2025,” said the statement.
“The Inspector General Police should investigate the conduct of the police personnel deployed to protect Newmont and the incident that have resulted in the needless deaths and injuries to poor and vulnerable people,” it added.
Furthermore the IGP should “conduct independent investigations into the underlying insecurity and human rights violations in mining communities, particularly those impacted by Newmont Ahafo North and South activities.”
It added that “the systemic trend of insecurities and harassment which had led to deaths and severe injuries to people in mining communities due to the employment of state and private security personnel by multinational mining companies to protect their concessions had been treated with undue leniency by state agencies.”
Background
In an attempt to combat an alleged gold-stealing operation in the Newmont gold mining enclave, police confrontation with the suspects led to the death of three.
A statement by the police said the leaders and youth of the community were engaged in a dialogue to prevent the situation from escalating.
“During the operation to contain the situation, the Police confronted the suspects, leading to the death of three persons and injuries to four others.”
“The Inspector-General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, worked on the phone with the Regional Police team to engage community leaders and the youth throughout the night till this morning to stabilize the situation, and there has been no reprisal attacks or escalation of the situation in the community,” the statement dated January 09, 2025 said.
Furthermore, a special investigation was commenced into the incident.
“A special investigation team from Accra has been sent to the area to investigate the incident, whilst a reinforcement team has also been sent to the community to help ensure that there is peace, security, law and order.”
Thank you for reading from Dehotpress, a Ghanaian news website. You are welcome to share this story on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., and you can also follow us there.
Discussion about this post