The Deputy Clerk of Parliament has assured mine workers of investigations into the sale and purchase agreement on the Bogoso Prestea mine.
Ebenezer Ahumah Djaoutre gave the assurance when he received a petition from the mine workers on behalf of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin at Parliament House in Accra on April 26, 2024.
The mine workers converged at the entrance of Parliament House to meet the Speaker of Parliament but were prevented by personnel of the Ghana Police Service who advised that 10 people should be nominated to present the petition.
The General Secretary of the Ghana Mine Workers Union, Abdul Moomin Gbana led the delegation of ten to meet the Speaker. However, Mr Djaoutre received the petition on his behalf.
Abdul Moomin Gbana pleaded with Parliament to intervene swiftly to address the crisis at the Bogoso Prestea mine.
“We also want to mention that the sale and purchasing agreement did not come to Parliament, so we want the Speaker and by extension Parliament to conduct investigations into the agreement,” he requested.
The Deputy Clerk of Parliament assured the workers that their concerns will be made known to the Speaker.
“We will present it to the Speaker and you will surely hear the feedback” he assured.
Earlier, the mine workers converged at the independence square to demand that government, through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources terminates the mining lease of Future Global Resources.
On April 25, government through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, has given managers of the Bogoso and Prestea Mines, Future Global Resources (FGR), fourteen (14) days to commence payment of salaries owed to workers.
The Ministry said FGR must also complete the payment of all outstanding salaries no later than May 30, 2024.
More than three hundred mine workers from the Bogoso Mine have besieged the premises of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to picket.
The workers are demanding that the Minister terminate the mining lease granted to FGR.
Moreover, they argued that Future Global Resources does not have the wherewithal to manage the mine for three years now, thus all of them have been laid off.
“The truth of the matter is that as far as we are concerned duty bearers must recognize that Future Global Resources does not have the financial resources to manage the mines so the Minister must terminate their contract,” said the General Secretary of the Ghana Mine Workers Union of TUC, Abdul Moomin Gbana, when he addressed a news conference in Accra.
Bogoso Mine: Gov’t gives FGR 14 days to commence payment of salaries owed workers
By Daniel Opoku