AngloGold Compensates Victim

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday May 2, 2011.
AngloGold Ashanti, a mining giant in the country has agreed to pay compensation to a 52-year-old man who was shot by the military when the company attempted to prevent farmers of Teberebie, near Tarkwa in the Western Region from using a route close to the company’s waste dump.

This follows an agreement reached between the AngloGold Ashanti, WACAM, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) fighting against irresponsible mining and Center for Public Interest Law (CEPIL) on behalf of Mr. Baidoo.

Mr. Baidoo was shot by a soldier on February 2, 2006 when AngloGold Ashanti used the military to prevent farmers in Teberebie from using a short route around the Waste Rock Dump in the community to their farms.

John Opoku, a legal practitioner was the mediator in the negotiation, which took place at the office of CEPIL in Accra on April 19, 2011.

The parties agreed that AngloGold Ashanti should pay a negotiated lump sum as compensation to Mr. Baidoo in addition to supporting his child’s education up to the tertiary level.

Mr. Baidoo expressed gratitude to WACAM and CEPIL for their unflinching support since the incident occurred in 2006.

He said that he was happy about the agreement reached and thanked Mr John Opoku for effectively facilitating the negotiation process.

Commenting on the agreement, Augustine Niber, Executive Director of CEPIL said, “It was good that the company agreed to settle the matter and as the lawyers for the victim, we are happy with the outcome of the settlement.”

“We were particularly impressed by the mutual respect that was exhibited during the negotiation process and believe that if the same spirit is extended to the communities, there will always be a healthy company and community relations that will prevent incidents of this nature from occurring again.

“It was good that the company agreed to settle the matter and as the lawyers for the victim, we are happy with the outcome of the settlement.”

Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, the Executive Director of WACAM said, “It is impossible to replace human life with monetary value but at least we are satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations.

“It is our hope that the company would learn to respect the rights of the host communities to avoid causing such irreparable harm to innocent people.”

Mr. Opoku expressed happiness that the parties had used Alternative Dispute Resolution to resolve what appeared to be a controversial case that could have been prolonged in court for years.

“We have been able to reach an agreement on this difficult issue to the satisfaction of Mr Anthony Baidoo, AngloGold Ashanti, WACAM and CEPIL in a negotiation that lasted about three hours,” he said.