Ghana

Nwoase is one of the four communities near Nkoranza in the Bono East region where ACA piloted its community-driven development programs. Since 2017, the people of the town have been locking horns with the Atekoanohene, one of their sub-chiefs over the illegal taking-over of lands belonging to them to some developers.

The chief, long known for his brutality and disregard of the villagers’ welfare, suddenly announced in 2017 that he was selling off the village’s farmland to external developers. This would leave the people of Nwoase with no means of livelihood and no recourse for replacement land.

With the help of ACA’s FCAP process for community-driven development, the Nwoase residents overcame division and intimidation to launch a long-term legal strategy that seeks to recover lost land and bring about a new chapter in the relationship between the people of the community and their traditional leader.

In July 2021, Israeli-controlled Narawa Mining expanded its operations to new areas directly around the creek from which the community of Nsuapemso as traditionally drawn its water for drinking and other household uses.  ACA assisted the community to articulate its complaints and raise them with government agencies.

On behalf of the people of Juaso, ACA addressed petitions to the Mining Commission and the Ministry of Minerals and Natural Resources in July 2012 complaining that KGL had repeatedly violated laws and regulations relating to the public disclosure of mining plans on community land, as well as the prior negotiation and adequate compensation of those whose surface rights are disturbed by new mining operations.  The Ministry responded with a promise to hold KGL and other mining companies to account but has yet to take concrete action.

In 2023 the Citizens’ Committee Network (CiCoNet) of Juaso and the nearby communities of Sagyimase and Nsuapemso filed a complaint with the Minerals Commission about mining companies’ unfilled mining pits.  The Minerals Commission undertook a tour of the affected sites and ordered KGL and others to remediate them.  As of the end of June 2023, about 40% of unfilled pits had been remediated because of the communities’ advocacy.

The community raised its complaints over impacts to their stream with the Water Resources Commission (WRC) in 2021. When a promised intervention by the WRC failed to materialize, the community also raised their concerns with the Minerals Commission, which suspended Narawa’s mining permit around November 2022.

108 community members had submitted a complaint to Ghana’s Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in December 2017, alleging that the Atekoanohene had intimidated them and abused his power, and that his decision to sell their land would endanger their fundamental human rights to nutrition, health, and an adequate standard of living. 

However, CHRAJ was not able to resolve the case and ended proceedings abruptly following a directive by the Ministry of Chieftaincy to the Nkoranza Traditional Council to take over the case and mediate between the two feuding parties involved.  CHRAJ handled the matter from the latter part of 2017 till March 2020.  The Nkoranza Traditional Council was also unable to resolve the case due to disagreements about the Council’s authority and the Atekoanohene’s unwillingness to use impartial surveyors and other service providers to assess the land in question.

In October 2022, several community members filed suit in Sunyani High Court, seeking leave to petition for an order requiring the Atekoanohene to account for how he disposed of community land.  The applicants were granted leave to submit their petition in November 2022; that petition is still pending.

Currently, the parties involved in the case are exploring the possibility of settling the matter amicably out of court.