Ghana's Now 4th Conflict Area As Akufo-Addo Stifles Media Worried Only About His Legacy Not Ghana

Sunday, 28 July 2024

By: TB Obwoge

If the world found out about all the crime, corruption and the conflict areas in Ghana, it would surely no longer hold the place of Africa's 4th most peaceful country. People would stop traveling to the country if they knew it was not only the 2nd highest scamming country in Africa but that crime was on the rise over 40% since 2021.

Ghana needs tourism to pay for their most recent IMF loan as well as the greedy, overspending of the Akufo-Addo administration. No matter who wins the elections in December 2024, Ghanaians will be paying the price of Akufo-Addo's failures.

All the president of Ghana (Akufo-Addo), seems to care about is his legacy and what he will look like to others in the future. He should probably care what he looks like to those alive today though.

His lies are oddly enough common in Ghana and I personally think this is one reason why Ghana is the second highest scamming country in Africa. He (Akufo-Addo), even stole parts of his speech from 2 former American presidents, why Ghanaians trusted this man after that I'll never understand.

I see it like this, living in Ghana, I saw a huge lack of morality for the people that proclaim themselves the more moral humans ever. Ghana is lacking morality and you can see it in the way women, girls and children are treated. Even other woman applaud and laugh at the abuse of women.

When the UK High Commissioner said that corruption in Ghana is so bad that it has been normalized she was correct. Funny thing is hundreds of Ghanaians commented on the post shared several times, most aggreed with her.

They probably didn't understand that she wasn't just talking about the government, she was speaking about every where in Ghana. Ghana's MP Sam George in an interview said that politicians are corrupt because the average Ghanaian is corrupted.

I paid to get elected - Sam George says the average Ghanaian is corrupt

Speaking on JoyTV's personality profile, the lawmaker mentioned that the average Ghanaian citizen is corrupt, in his submissions he said many laments about the corrupt nature of politicians forgetting that they also fuel the act.

Source: Pulse News Ghana

Almost every aspect of life in Ghana, there are some Ghanaians trying daily to scam others. Then others are always supporting their immoral scamming. You could see this it the case of Haji4Real, many claimed that she should be forgiven, saying the economy is hard. As if it wasn't hard for the people she scammed over 2 million USD from!

Wa, Ghana an area this author has visited several times while visiting my ex, who is a soldier in the Ghana Army. However many of the people I was able to meet in the area said that though the area was very calm during the day, it had some criminal activity.

Trike drivers who provide most of the transportation in the area usually stop working when the sun goes down, some have told me that they were robbed or feared being robbed because so many had been.

Ghana already has 3 conflict areas in the country that are being ignored. There have been incidents of journalists being arrested for trying to report on these areas, oh wait the Ghana police proclaim they weren't arrested they were detained.

Yeah right, being held for over 2 weeks without being charged with anything is arrested but that is one of the Ghana lies they make normal.

Struggle for natural resources in northern Ghana: Clashes over gold escalate

UNDOUBTEDLY, Northern Ghana is becoming a hub of mining activities with the discovery of mineral resources, particularly gold deposits in large quantities in many communities.

However, the struggle for this natural resource is brewing seeming conflicts and misunderstandings in these areas. Already, some communities are bearing the brunt of this foreseen phenomenon.

For instance, in the Upper West Region, disputes over access and control over mining concessions have been raging on for some time now. Azumah Resources Ltd, a prominent mining firm prospecting for gold in the area, finds itself embroiled in accusations of monopolising mining concessions to the detriment of locals in the host communities.

The situation is not different from that of the Upper East Region where Earl International Group, a mining firm operating in the area, continues to face off against illegal miners in violent clashes.

Security operatives flashing out illegal miners from a concession in the Upper East Region

The disturbances said to be centred on the company’s mining concessions have not only resulted in fatalities but have also heightened insecurity in the area.

The developments paint a clear picture of conflicts on natural resources unfolding in many communities in the five regions of the north have become very rampant raising security concerns. The area, which abounds with rich natural resources such as minerals, arable lands and water bodies, has become a hotspot for disputes pitting the livelihoods of locals against the economic interest of mining firms. A recent study has identified that there are currently about 64 different types of natural resource conflicts across 45 communities and 19 districts in the five regions of the north.

The study conducted by TAMA Foundation Universal, a non-governmental organisation into natural resource governance, conflict prevention and peacebuilding in collaboration with the Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment of the University for Development Studies (UDS) with funding from Ford Foundation, shows that some of the conflicts have been partially resolved while others were active and had the potential to spark violent confrontations.

The findings show that 28.1 per cent of the conflicts involve gold mining; farmer-herder conflicts, 23.4 per cent; sand and gravel winning, 6.1 per cent; charcoal production, 9.4 per cent; illegal tree felling, 11 per cent, and farmland, 3.1 per cent. per cent; non-implementation of social responsibility agreements, 4.7 per cent; group hunting conflict, 1.5 per cent, and competition with migrant farmers 1.5 per cent

In the Duu enclave in the Wa East District in the Upper West Region, Azumah Resource Ltd is currently prospecting for gold on its concession.

However, a visit to the community saw some illegal miners mount their equipment and busily mining illegally in the protected concession. An illegal miner, Hakim Yussif, recounted how he and his accomplice were recently attacked and had their equipment seized by security operatives protecting the mining concession.

“We are indigenes of the community but we are not benefiting from the gold deposit in our community so the only option for us is to engage in the illegal mining,” he lamented.

Another illegal miner, Salifu Rahaman, asked that the company cede portions of the concession to the locals to also mine.

Some illegal miners busily grinding rock samples for gold

For now, the community members are accusing the mining firm of taking charge of all the mining concessions and not compensating them for the lost lands and livelihoods while the firm argues that it was operating within a legal framework.

An opinion leader of the Duu community, Issifu Bolili, said the presence of the military in their lands near mining concessions was scaring the residents from going to their farms and also going about their daily activities.

He alleged that some military personnel had been carrying out unwarranted attacks on the locals while destroying their properties.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Assemblyman for the Duu Electoral Area, Sonko Gafaru, corroborated claims by the illegal miners and the opinion leader, adding that there seemed to be tension in the community due to the military presence in the area.

“We are sitting on gold but we are poor and suffering. For the past years, the community members have been trying to acquire licences for small-scale community mining but to no avail.

Source Ghana Graphic

Farming is one of the major ways people in that area of Ghana have as a way to earn a living. Even from Wa, to Tumu, which is some 4-hours away, farming is the major source of income for most the people. The men will farm and the women will sell the items in shops or on the roadsides.

However these areas are a quiet place for people from other countries to hide, as well as for terrorist groups to lay low. Ghana has increased military towards their border with Burkina Faso, sadly to something many Ghanaians know all to well is that other borders are very weak.

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©️TB Obwoge 2024 All Rights Reserved