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The worst affected mining communities in the country appeared to have little or no knowledge of MDF
Despite the huge revenues generated in the mining sector, many mining communities in the country remain underdeveloped.
In 2016, Parliament passed the Minerals Development Fund (MDF) Law, to accelerate and promote socio-economic development in mining communities to address relevant challenges in the allocation and use of mining royalties. and its potential to promote the development of the country’s mining communities.
Unfortunately, the law has not been able to address, among other things, the misuse of mining royalties, encourage local participation and increase transparency and accountability and the judicious use of mining royalties and management to promote the development of mining communities.
The worst affected mining communities in the country appeared to have little or no knowledge of MDF.
To address the situation Wacam, a civil society organization in collaboration with the Ford Foundation and the International Budget Partnership (IBP), NGOs are implementing a project to promote local participation in the use of mining revenues at local level.
Speaking at a stakeholder forum in Sunyani, the mining communities of Tarkwa Nsuaem municipality in the western district and Asutifi North in the Ahafo regions regretted that they were often overlooked in the decision-making process. decision regarding the use of mining revenues at the local level.
According to the affected mining communities, residents have not had the opportunity to contribute to the execution of development projects in their respective communities.
Organized by Wacam in accordance with the implementation of the project, the forum discussed relevant development challenges in mining communities and enabled local communities to develop an interest in the use of mining royalties and revenues.
Mr. Adusah Yakubu, a resident of Kenyasi in Asutifi North District called for effective engagement between district assemblies and local communities to meet the development needs of the local population.
“The development of our mining communities is appalling and the government must do something about it. We understand that huge royalties are paid to assemblies, but we do not see the benefits in our localities, ”said Mr. Akwasi Aduakwa, a resident of Tarkwa Nsuem.
Ms. Hannah Owusu-Koranteng, Associate Executive Director of Wacam, stressed the importance for local authorities to establish links with communities to ensure that assessment needs are always met before the execution of development projects in mining communities.
She said that although revenues from mineral resources contribute significantly to Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP), the continent’s mining communities continued to experience slow economic growth, human rights violations and violence.
Ms Owusu-Koranteng said irresponsible mining has displaced many residents of mining communities and worsened their socio-economic livelihoods.
“This situation has increased the marginalization of communities affected by mining and led to food insecurity, the collapse of social systems and access to common resources and public services,” she said. .
Mr. Yaw Atuburoah, a researcher, said it would be in their interest for district assemblies to engage mining communities in the process of developing and using MDF, and called on assemblies to do so regularly.
Mr. James Ata-Era, the planning officer of the North Asutifi District Assembly, regretted that the MDF did not allocate a budget allocation for community commitments, adding that many community members had little interest and had also not attended or participated in the City of Assembly hall meetings.
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