Youth groups and opinion leaders in Huniso and surrounding communities in the Prestea-Huni Valley Municipality of the Western Region have declared their support for the renewal of Gold Fields Ghana Limited’s lease for the Tarkwa Mine.
At a news conference, the groups launched a campaign dubbed “Gold Fields Must Stay for 20 Years,” urging the government to prioritise national and community interests over what they described as sectional considerations in the ongoing lease renewal discussions.
The groups, drawn from Huniso, Tebe and Abekoase, argued that claims of shared local ownership under the proposed “Apinto Shared Prosperity Proposal” were misleading and could undermine the growth and stability of the mining communities.
They maintained that foreign direct investment (FDI), when properly regulated, remained the most reliable driver of sustainable industrial mining.
Addressing journalists, the Abokomahene of Huniso, Nana Kwasi Ansah, rejected calls by the Apinto Division for the government to deny Gold Fields a lease extension and instead hand over the mine under a local ownership arrangement.
He described the proposal as economically unviable and cautioned against what he termed an attempt to “hijack a vital national asset for private gain” under the guise of local ownership.
“Mining is not trial-and-error corporate governance,” he said, stressing that the Tarkwa Mine was a world-class, deep open-pit operation that required significant capital investment, advanced technical expertise and strict adherence to international environmental standards.
He argued that it would be unrealistic for an untested, wholly Ghanaian-owned entity or state vehicle to take over and maintain the scale, safety and operational efficiency of the mine.
Instead, Nana Ansah said the groups supported measures such as enhanced transparency, expanded local procurement, job security guarantees and binding infrastructure commitments, rather than replacing an established operator with what he described as opaque local entities.
He added that members of the community, including youth, farmers and traders, were fully aware of who stood to benefit from any transition.
Nana Ansah cautioned that previous disruptions to foreign investment in the sub-region had resulted in economic setbacks, warning that about 4,000 direct workers and subcontractors could face job losses if the lease was not renewed.
He also indicated that the state risked losing hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties, taxes and dividends that Gold Fields contributed to the national economy.
“While no mining operation is without environmental and social challenges, it is factually incorrect to say Gold Fields has contributed nothing to host communities,” he stated.
He cited support for small and medium enterprises, employment opportunities and community development projects, warning that businesses providing services such as catering, transport and engineering support could collapse if operations were disrupted.
Nana Ansah commended Gold Fields for its graduate employment scheme, which provides an annual allowance of $600 to beneficiaries, as well as scholarship programmes that have supported many students, including a medical doctor at the University of Cape Coast Teaching Hospital.
He added that beneficiaries of such initiatives included engineers, midwives and nurses from communities such as Huniso.
He called on the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to renew the lease but urged that the process be tied to a stricter, legally binding Community Development Agreement (CDA).
FROM CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, HUNISO
Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
