STRUGGLES AGAINST VIOLATIONS BY MINING COMPANIES IN GHANA
Khulumani joins the call for solidarity with the Yayaso people of the Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve to demand that the people are not evicted from their ancestral land with its sacred sites and burial grounds.
STRUGGLES AGAINST VIOLATIONS BY MINING COMPANIES IN GHANA
The people of Yayaso in New Abirem District are engaged in a struggle against being forcibly evicted from their land and their town. The Yayaso community has a population of over 3,000 and farming is the main economic activity of the people. Newmont Akyem mine intends to establish a Rock Waste Dump in Yayaso as part of the mining operations in the Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve. The mining operations would affect 18 sacred sites in the operational areas of the mine including one Royal cemetery and a public cemetery at Yayaso.
The Yayaso community petitioned the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in December 2010 against the destruction of the Royal Cemetery and the Public Cemetery . The local people have in the past sent petitions against mining in Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve because the mining operations would destroy the livelihoods of many people , biodiversity, water bodies and their farming activities since according to them, the Ajenua Bepo forest reserve promotes rainfall.
On Friday 22nd July 2011, the company employed the service of police and the self-styled Chief of Adausena to perform some rituals in Yayaso to pave way for the exhumation of the dead bodies of chiefs and people who had been buried in the Royal cemetery and the Public cemetery.
The people of Yayaso took steps to protect their heritage and confronted the police . As a result of the confrontation, the rituals could not be performed. According to the local people of Yayaso the cemeteries constitute an important part of their heritage of about 120 years which they are ready to protect at all costs. The youth and people of Yayaso kept vigil at the Royal Cemetery of Yayaso from yesterday till the next day.
There are indications that the company would resort to brute force to evict the people of Yayaso and the people of Yayaso are determined to protect their heritage. This is a flash point of serious confrontation and urgent action would be required to draw local and international support for the people of Yayaso.
Khulumani joins the call for solidarity with the Yayaso people of the Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve to demand that the people are not evicted from their ancestral land with its sacred sites and burial grounds.
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