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  • The human cost of progress: Kaback fishermen caught in the wake of Simandou’s iron ore project

    Several concerns are being raised by some communities in the West African country of Guinea over various adverse effects of construction activities meant to pave the way for the kick-off of the Simandou iron ore mining project in Guinea, estimated at over two billion tons on some communities around the area. These construction activities continue to bring untold hardships to a lot of people whose daily lives are being impacted as a result.

    Human rights concerns, health challenges, environmental issues and disturbances on traditional and cultural monuments are key adverse effects of the various preparatory works being undertaken to pave the way for the Simandou project.

    Besides, large-scale mining and infrastructure development could lead to habitat destruction, loss of flora and fauna, and disruption of ecological balance.

    One community that is having its fair share of the negative effects of the sea dredging and the movement of vessels to the Morebayah port is Kaback, which is a fishing community located along the Atlantic Ocean at the eastern coast of Conakry. Even though there is no construction activity within the Kaback community, it is suffering from impacts of the sea dredging works and the movement of vessels to the Morebayah port.

    During a recent visit to the area by staff of Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), some community members took turns to share their frustrations with the NGO, which helps West African communities that are threatened by the destructive impacts of extractive projects to take control of their futures.

    As a predominantly fishing community, the main complaint by Kaback residents has to do with the destruction of their fishing nets as they contended that there was a dredging activity in the sea close to where they have been fishing.

    According to them, the dredging was being carried out by Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) so that the vessels could sail to the port of Morebayah.

    “After dredging, the rocks were left in the sea instead of carrying them to a safe place along the shore or inland to prevent the rocks from causing harm or injuries to other users of the sea, they left them in the sea”, the community members lamented.

    It was observed during the visit to the community that the areas where the rocks from the dredging were gathered are not demarcated and the this is destroying the nets of the fishermen anytime, they go fishing.

    Even though the Simandou mining project holds high prospects for Guinea’s economy owing to its significance not just for its scale but also because of the high-grade iron ore it aims to extract, much needs to be done to mitigate the environmental and other socio-economic effects on people.

  • Koidu Appeals Court hearing begins at last

    After several adjournments, on Tuesday May 21, 2024, the Sierra Leone Court of Appeal began hearing human rights claims that will determine whether community members can legally take on Koidu Limited, a multinational diamond mining company, for causing harm to their livelihoods, health, and their traditional lands.

    At the court hearing in Freetown on Tuesday, the lead counsel for the plaintiffs, Dr. Chernor Mamoud Benedict Jalloh, advanced cogent arguments before the panel of judges on the 12 grounds of appeal.

    His argument mainly centered whether the company can force residents to submit all their complaints to an internal grievance office instead of going to court, whether members of the public can sue to hold companies to environmental laws and commitments.  The stakes are high: if the defendants’ arguments are upheld, then communities could lose their rights to sue when mining companies harm them and instead be required to let the company resolve all complaints internally.

    The other grounds of appeal will be dealt with on May 30, 2024, when the court will reconvene to continue its sitting on the matter.

    The hearing of the Koidu community’s appeal became possible after a ruling on Thursday February 29, 2024, that struck out preliminary objections filed by the defendant mining company, Koidu Limited and allowed the appeal to go forward.  This ruling breathed new life into the Koidu plaintiffs’ case, which was dismissed by the High Court in Makeni on 27th October 2022, on the basis that the plaintiffs were not qualified to press their claims in court.  The dismissal order also ruled that the plaintiffs should have used a non-judicial grievance mechanism before going to court, despite also recognizing that the grievance mechanism did not actually exist.

    Kono community members and their civil society partners were in court in their numbers, hoping that the Court of Appeal will quickly rule that their claims were wrongly dismissed by the High Court and send the case for a speedy trial.

  • CiCoNet calls for allocation of 20% of Minerals Dev’t Fund proceeds to mining communities

    The Citizens Committee Network (CiCoNet), an interface group of concerned citizens who help protect their communities’ development vision, is calling for the allocation of 20% of proceeds into the Minerals Development Fund to be disbursed to mining communities.

    This proposed allocation, according to CiCoNet, is to be used for sustainable development projects chosen by each mining community under the supervision of the managers of the Fund.

    CiCoNet believes that this will ensure fair and equitable use of proceeds into the Fund under the Minerals Development Fund Act, 2016, Act 912.

    This was one of the advocacy action plans agreed upon at a three-day training session for the nine-member national executives held at Asiakwa near Kyebi in the Eastern region of Ghana.

    Code-named “Legal Learning Workshop”, the training session was organised upon the request of the of CiCoNet to sharpen the group’s advocacy skills on laws about mining, land and general understanding of Ghana’s constitution.

    Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), a non-profit-making organisation, which helps West African communities that are threatened by the destructive impacts of extractive projects to take control of their futures, facilitated the training through its Legal Office and the Community-Driven Development Department.

    The CiCoNet national executives noted that after nearly ten years of the setting up of the Minerals Development Fund, very little can be shown for it as most mining communities which are bearing the brunt of the devastating effects of mining operations can barely boast of any development project executed under the Fund.

    The group believes that if the communities are directly involved in the usage of their share of the Fund, it will go a long way to engender communalism and cost-effectiveness in the execution of sustainable development projects in their respective areas.

    Paul Uthan, National Secretary of CiCoNet, in an interview after the training, said the Minerals Development Fund, created by the Minerals Development Fund ACT, 2016 Act 912 to provide financial resources for the direct benefit of mining communities, among others, must be judiciously used to inure to the benefit of the intended beneficiaries.

    “We are therefore going to create a lot of awareness about this Fund and push for the 20% allocation to mining communities”, he further said.

    The National President of CiCoNet, Emmanuel Antwi, disclosed that the group will also be advocating the need for the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to be well-resourced to effectively carry out its functions as mandated by law.

    “This training has been very fruitful. It is in our plans as CiCoNet to educate our community members about their fundamental human rights, so our main aim is to ensure community development. In this regard, we, as CiCoNet executives, need to be well equipped with the legal aspects of what we intend doing so we came for the workshop to keep ourselves abreast of the rights of people living in communities threatened by mining activities”, he explained.

    From here we’re setting the ball rolling by sharing the knowledge gained here with all CiCoNet members and going down to the communities to educate community members on their rights under the country’s legal regime on mining.

    CiCoNet

    The Citizens Committee Network (CiCoNet), an interface group of concerned citizens who help protect their communities’ development vision.  CiCoNet members are trained to speak with government officials and other stakeholders on behalf of their communities, raising concerns in ways that allow local authorities to help resolve key community concerns.

    Through CiCoNet, some communities have won key victories, such as prompting the suspension of a highly polluting mining company’s operating permit and inducing companies to fill over 40 abandoned pits that endangered the welfare of children and livestock in places such as Juaso and Nsuapemso in the Eastern region of Ghana.

  • Nkoranza South CBFs undergo training on microgrant pathway proposal development

    It is yet another interesting and educating session for our Community-Based Facilitators (CBFs) from ten communities in Nkoranza South as they gather to go through the Microgrant Pathway Proposal Development sub phase, a key component of the Facilitated Collective Action Plan (FCAP).

    Also called “Oman yie die” in Ghana, FCAP aims at strengthening local participation in the implementation of the Assembly’s medium term development plan.

    Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), a non-profit-making organization that helps West African communities that are threatened by the destructive impacts of extractive projects to take control of their futures, is collaborating with the Nkoranza South Municipal Assembly to roll out the Oman Yie Die project in Asuano, Akuma, Abuontem, Akumsa Domase, Barnufuor, Brahoho, Bredi No. 1, Bonsu, Nkwabeng and Kyekyewere.

    The CBFs are currently undergoing a week-long training at Nkoranza on Microgrant Pathway Proposal Development sub phase to ensure that they can effectively spearhead the development of a full project proposal plan to implement and sustain their Microgrant pathway.

    As part of the training, the communities will create a risk and mitigation plan for their pathway and elaborate on the by-laws they will need to govern their pathway effectively as well as work with a technical advisor to develop their Microgrant pathway proposals.

    Topics being treated during the week-long training session are procurement guidelines, developing implementation action plan and budget, developing maintenance plan and budget, sustainability (including risk assessment and mitigation strategies), transparency and accountability, community engagement plan and Microgrant pathway bylaws.

    The training will also cover areas such as measuring success, setting annual targets for the Microgrant pathway, creating data collection plans for the Microgrant pathway, and proposal review.

    The participants will also be taken through the process of disbursing and ensuring transparent management of the microgrant itself.

    ACA’s Community-Driven Development Team led by Nana Ama Nketia-Quaidoo and supported by Godfred Osei Nimako and So Abapa Boateng are the main facilitators of the programme. Also in attendance are four staff of the Nkoranza South Municipal Assembly.

    The ACA team will also engage the Nkoranza South Municipal Chief Executive, Dr. Augustine Amoateng on the smooth implementation of FCAP in the ten selected communities later during the week.

  • CiCoNet sharpens its advocacy skills on Ghana’s mining laws

    A three-day training for national executives of the Citizens Committee Network (CiCoNet) is underway in Asiakwa in the Abuakwa South Municipality to keep CiCoNet members abreast of Ghana’s Minerals and Mining Act (Act 703 as amended).

    The training, referred to as Legal Learning Workshop, is being organised upon the request of the of CiCoNet to sharpen the group’s advocacy skills on laws about mining, land and general understanding of Ghana’s constitution.

    Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), a non-profit-making organization, which helps West African communities that are threatened by the destructive impacts of extractive projects to take control of their futures, is facilitating this training through its Legal Office and the Community-Driven Development Department.

    This is to enable CiCoNet to embark on its planned nationwide advocacy on the fundamental human rights of mining communities, among others.

    ACA’s Legal Team led by Lalla Toure welcomed the participants to the workshop and expressed the hope that they would be in the right position to embark on their planned advocacy on land and mining related issues at the end of their training.

    The team said all mineral resources are vested in the government in trust of the citizenry, adding that every land has an owner whose rights cannot be infringed upon by anyone and explained the differences between customary law and common law to the participants.

    The ACA Legal Team took the participants through various processes involved in land acquisition for mining or other purposes by the state.

    Some topics being covered during the three-day training program, which will end tomorrow Friday May 17, 2024, include land leasing process, compensation, land reclamation as well as land rent and land sale.

    “This training is very timely and I believe strongly that at the end of the training, participants will properly understand what the law says about the processes involved in the acquisition of land for mining activities and the role of each party in the acquisition of land for mining activities (land renters, land owners, chiefs and mining companies)”, Nana Ama Nketia-Quaidoo, the Director for Community-Driven Development, said in on the sidelines of the workshop.

    She was also hopeful that they will have a better appreciation of what the law says about the conversion of waste land created by the mining companies into land suitable for use of habitation or cultivation.

    About CiCoNet

    The Citizens’ Committee Network (CiCoNet) is an interface group of concerned citizens who help protect their communities’ development vision.  CiCoNet members are trained to speak with government officials and other stakeholders on behalf of their communities, raising concerns in ways that allow local authorities to help resolve key community concerns.

    Through CiCoNet, our communities have won key victories, such as prompting the suspension of a highly polluting mining company’s operating permit and inducing companies to fill abandoned pits that endangered the welfare of children and livestock.

  • Sierra Leone Court of Appeal again adjourns hearing on Kono Community’s human rights claims

    Kono community members in Sierra Leone and their civil society partners were alarmed by the result of an Appeals Court hearing on Thursday May 9, 2024, which produced yet another delay in their case against diamond-mining company Koidu Limited.

    The community members and their partners left the court premises disappointed and helpless in a case which has dragged on for five years amidst several court adjournments.

    Last Thursday, the Sierra Leone Court of Appeal again adjourned hearing Kono community’s human rights claims which seek to determine whether the community members can legally take on a multinational diamond mining company for causing harm to their livelihoods, health, and their traditional lands. The new date for hearing of the case is 21 May 2024.

    Although the Presiding Judge, Justice R.S Fynn, was ready for proceedings, one of the judges, Justice Amy Wright, pleaded that she was ill-prepared for the hearing due to some administrative tasks she had been performing about the arrival of the ECOWAS delegation to the country.

    It is anticipated that the ECOWAS delegation will be out of the country by the new date set by the court.

    “It is extremely worrying that the people of Kono would be made to go through this frustration over the years at the hands of the powers that be without any clear sign of hope for them. Is it the case that the government is behind this delay, or it is the Koidu Limited that is pulling some strings behind the scenes to drag the case?”, Mr. Prince Boima, Chairman of the Marginalized Affected Property Owners Association, said after the court announced yet another adjournment on Thursday.

    The lead counsel for the plaintiffs, Dr. Chernor Mamoud Benedict Jalloh urged the justice system to ensure that justice is delivered in a timely manner in this matter because “justice delayed is justice denied to all parties in this litigation.”

    The hearing of the Koidu community’s human rights became possible after a ruling on Thursday February 29, 2024, that struck out preliminary objections filed by the defendant mining company, Koidu Limited.

    The Appeals Court’s ruling last February brought a new life into the Koidu plaintiffs’ case, which was dismissed by the High Court in Makeni on 27th October 2022, on the basis that the plaintiffs were not qualified to press their claims in court.  The dismissal order also ruled that the plaintiffs should have used a non-judicial grievance mechanism before going to court, despite also recognizing that the grievance mechanism did not actually exist.

    Brief background

    Koidu Limited is a diamond mining company that operates in Sierra Leone and is privately owned by BSG Resources Limited (BSGR) through its subsidiary, Octéa Limited. The company is accused of degrading the living conditions of people living near its mining operations and failing to properly relocate them or compensate them for their losses.

    Residents who have not been relocated find it increasingly difficult to farm because waste rock and rubble from Koidu Ltd.’s operations have covered much of their farmland. “Koidu Limited has destroyed our lives,” said Mr. Prince Boima, Chairman of the Marginalized Affected Property Owners Association. “We used to farm and live in peace, but now our lands and water sources are poisoned and covered in rubble. Our homes are shaken by explosives every day.”

    Residents also report that their health has suffered. Dust from the mining operations often covers the community and causes headaches, difficulty breathing, and a burning sensation in the

    residents’ eyes. The operations have also contaminated the water, and many residents develop skin rashes and digestive problems they did not previously experience. High stress from living with frequent blasting further causes headaches, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, and respiratory problems in the community.

    Despite promising to properly relocate affected community members in advance of expanding its mining operations, Koidu Ltd. has left the people to suffer.  Many community members have neither been relocated, nor compensated for the damage to their properties, health, and livelihoods.  Others have been relocated to a new area, but the conditions of relocation have been incommensurate with what they lost.

    The community is supported in its fight for justice by Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), a Ghana-based human rights organization, and Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD), a Sierra Leonean civil society organization that organizes communities for a more just society in the face of natural resource extraction.

  • PILIWA and PILEX Centre support three Nigerian communities threatened by pollution

    Two human rights groups, the Public Interest Lawyering Initiative for West Africa (PILIWA) and PILEX Centre For Civic Education Initiative-The Peoples Advocates, are embarking on health, social and environmental impact assessment of unchecked pollution in three communities in Rivers State, Nigeria.

    This is because of the continuous cases of pollution and the accompanying negative impact on these three communities namely: Ibaa, Rukpokwu and Rumuekpe located in Emohua and Obio Akpor local government areas of Rivers State.

    PILIWA is a wing of Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), a non-profit-making organisation that helps West African communities threatened by the destructive impacts of extractives-led development to take control of their own futures.

    PILIWA is a regional movement of lawyers driven by social justice and a host of self-motivated and human rights-driven lawyers who serve threatened communities and assist them to fight for their own vision of the future in the face of pressure from powerful political and economic actors.

    PILEX Centre For Civic Education Initiative-The Peoples Advocates, on the other hand, is a public interest advocacy organization working on public interest matters related to the environment and human rights. One of its key focuses is geared towards making the world a just environment for humans to live in dignity and love.

    Under the RIV 3 Project, PILEX Centre is partnering PILIWA to engage public health and environmental experts to investigate the extent of the negative impact of extractive activities on the people and their environment.

    According to the coordinator of PILEX Center, Courage Nsirimovu, the outcome of the investigation will serve as a “veritable tool for advocacy and litigations where necessary in view of securing justice for impacted communities and setting a new standard for future engagement.”

    “For over 70 years, Shell, Total Agip and other multinational oil companies have exploited the crude oil and gas resources of the people of Niger Delta in a rather crude manner which has oppressively polluted and spoilt the environment, killing many species of plants and animals and chasing the survivors away.”

    Lawyer Nsirimovu stated that community dwellers have lost much of their fishing and farming livelihoods and the hydrocarbon poisoning in their foods, soil, water, air and body from the pollution, has led to sicknesses, diseases and deaths.

    He insisted that PILIWA and PILEX Centre shall be demanding that Multi-National Oil Companies (MNOCs) clean up the polluted environment to restore it to its original state while defaulting MNOCs will be required to build health centers in all polluted environments to treat affected persons without any charge or whatsoever.

  • PILIWA, Caleb College of Law partner to groom students in public interest lawyering

    The College of Law, Caleb University, Lagos, is collaborating with the Public Interest Lawyering Initiative for West Africa (PILIWA) to groom its students in the act of public interest lawyering.

    As part of the grooming process PILIWA will facilitate the process to ensure that the students will have field experience that will broaden their horizon and encourage them to render free services to communities upon completion.

    “We hope they will be able to imbibe that culture when they leave the university,” the South-south Coordinator of PILIWA Nigeria, Mr. Courage Nsirimovu, said.

    According to him, the knowledge of public interest lawyering would enable the students upon graduation to stand up for social rights, especially for indigent and disadvantaged people who cannot stand up for their rights.

    Mr. Courage Nsirimovu was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the signing of a linkage agreement between the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), to equip students at the university with multiple disciplines, and make them future-ready upon graduation.

    In addition to the dual qualifications for students at the university, the linkage would enable members of the institute to mentor them to know the practical aspects of what they are taught in school.

  • Third Chiefs Council meeting ends at Asiakwa

    A Chiefs Council Meeting has been held in ACA partner-communities in the Eastern region of Ghana to deliberate on planning, implementation and post-implementation stages of FCAP.

    This is the third time the council has met since the inception of FCAP implementation in the Eastern region.

    The meeting that took place at Daasebre Agyeman Hotel in Asiakwa, brought together chiefs and queen mothers from 45 communities from Abuakwa South, Fanteakwa South and Atiwa West districts all in the Eastern region of Ghana.

    The meeting afforded participants the opportunity to share their experiences about the important roles of chiefs in the planning, implementation and post-implementation phases of FCAP.

    Some of the key issues raised at the meeting include the need for the chiefs to periodically participate in the community meetings and demonstrate transparency and accountability, to carry the entire community along in the process.

    Participants at the meeting were unanimous that the FCAP implementation phases elicit democracy and communal spirit among the community members and commended ACA for spearheading this laudable initiative.

    Concerns raised by the chiefs in communities at the planning phase included the lack of enthusiasm on the part of some community members and their limitations under the law to prescribe punishment for recalcitrant citizens.

    The chiefs also asked ACA to deliberately invite queen mothers to subsequent meetings of this nature to shore up women participation in the process.

    The communities which attended the meeting were Kplandey, Bosuso, Abompe, Hemang, Nsutam, Saamang, Dome Nkrankama, Subrima, Oboperko, Apedwa, Akyem Asafo, Kyebi Kwadum, Asunafo, Ehiamankyene, Dadetsunya, Ahinkwakorm, Lartemu, Adortoa, Asedja, Ahinkwasisi, Ekoso Akwadum and Akyem Banso.

    The rest include Bepoase, Bomponso No.1, Gyampomani, Akyem Awenare, Kyem Maaso, Agyapomaa, Wirenkyi Amanfrom, Muoso, Adadientem, Adokwanta, Akyem Akropong, Apapam and Akrofufu.

    The Director for Community-Driven Development (CDD) programs of Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), Nana Ama Nketia-Quaidoo (Mrs); the Project Manager, Godfred Osei Nimako and Senior Trainer, Francis Manu took turns to address the meeting.

  • ACA appeals to district assemblies to intensify education on FCAP

    The Director for Community-Driven Development (CDD) programs of Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), Nana Ama Nketia-Quaidoo (Mrs), has made a passionate appeal to ACA’s partner-district assemblies to be intentional about education and information sharing on the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP) to their community members.

    This, she believes, will ensure that the people are well informed about the implementation process of FCAP, also called “Oman yie die.”

    Nana Ama Nketia-Quaidoo (Mrs) made this call during her presentation at the District Planning Coordinating Unit meeting of the Atiwa West District Assembly in the Eastern region of Ghana on Thursday April 18, 2024.

    Mrs. Nketia-Quaidoo noted that although the communities have embraced and begun the FCAP activities, the district assemblies should make conscious efforts to periodically communicate and share updates on the partnership with their people as part of accountability and transparency.

    She also pointed out that FCAP does not just leave communities with development trajectory but also a powerful tool that is effective for development of medium-term development plans for district Assemblies in Ghana.

    Mr. Divine Seth Nuworbor, the Acting Coordinating Director for the Atiwa West District Assembly emphasized the assembly’s readiness to enhance the collaboration with ACA towards the successful implementation of FCAP in the district.

    Also in the meeting were other staff of ACA namely, Elfried Dossavi-Messy, Coordinator for M&E and Communication; Godfred Osei Nimako, the Project Manager and Richard Kofi Boahen, the Communication officer.

    On the side of the district assembly were the district development planning officer, the physical planning officer and a host of others.