Bogoso-Prestea Mine Workers Disheartened by Continued Operational Delays
A number of staff of Bogoso Prestea Mine who joined to advocate for the termination of the mining lease of Future Global Resources/ Blue Gold Bogoso Prestea Limited (then owners of Bogoso Prestea Mine), are blaming themselves for the approach they took part.
The local Union took an issue that had been bothering the workers’ well-being to another level with a series of demonstrations, accusing FGR owners and management of defaulting on their SSNIT payment, and severance, among others.
According to the workers, they had to perform their duties without personal protective equipment (PPE) for some time, endangering their lives as the owners ignored their concerns
They also accused the owners of not investing in the mine after the takeover in 2020 and pushed for the absolute termination of their mining leases.
In August 2024, Blue Gold, the mother company, announced the restart of the mine and was on site to prepare the way for a full mining operation to start and right the wrongs, after an extensive discussion with the Minerals Commission.
Workers who were first involved in the preparatory works, after the mine had been dormant for close to a year were being paid, signifying that light was coming through the darkness in the coming months.
But that was if the Union did not want that either. After several agitations, the mining leases of FGR/Blue Gold were finally terminated in September.
In the hope that the Union and Minerals Commission would bring in a new investor to restore the mine so staff to go back to work and fend for themselves and their family
This is because, the local Union persistently asked the workforce to join in the fight, for there were readily standby investors who would take over immediately FGR/Blue Gold left.
Five months down the line, extreme frustration has set in, workers who initially did not want to join the calls of the Union but later did, are sounding disappointed, since nothing has been shown to justify the revamping of the mine by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) which has some key Union leaders.
Day in and day out bank accounts continue to deplete.
In a meeting in Prestea on January 9, 2025, where this reporter was invited, some staff told him in confidence that, if they knew it would be this way, they would not have supported the call of the Union to push FGR/Blue Gold away.
“We feel disappointed and neglected. The Union that pushed for this and is now part of the IMC, is not telling us anything. There was always the hope that something was coming into your account every month but that is not the situation anymore”, one of them said sadly.
The meeting was to reveal the other side of the story happening in their lives and the state of the once vibrant Bogoso Prestea Mine.
The various forms of disappointment that were written on their faces were heavy as they narrated their ordeal.
One of them said, “My rent is even due in March and I do not know where the next money is coming from for me to settle it, everything has been just slow.”
Giving a clue as to what is currently happening at the mine, they stated that, the underground continues to flood with no clear intention of dewatering the underground now. They added that if “We don’t find a solution to the issue immediately, we will subsequently lose the mine”.
The group is pleading with the IMC and H.E. John Mahama to expedite action on the mine.
However currently, Blue Gold is in court, praying to the court to among others, grant an order of injunction, restraining respondents and other interested parties in the case from taking control, management, and possession of the Bogoso-Prestea Mines pending the determination of Blue Gold dispute with the Government of Ghana, in respect of Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources’ termination of their mining leases in the Bogoso-Prestea Mine.
They are also praying the court to grant an injunction restraining the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry from presenting to the Parliament of Ghana any mining lease agreement, over the Bogoso-Prestea Mines for the Parliament of Ghana’s ratification.
Moreover, in December 2024, the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) started an investigation into the alleged fraud of the acquisition of the rich Bogoso Prestea Mine and ordered the freeze of any transaction processes.
