Aggrieved workers of Anglogold Ashanti Ghana Limited have called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to remove the President of the Chamber of Mines, Eric Asubonteng from Office.
The workers say Mr. Asubonteng who is also the Managing Director of Anglogold Ashanti Ghana Limited, has refused to facilitate the payment of special compensations agreed on between the dismissed workers and the company before their dismissal in 2014.
Spokesperson for the group, Alex Frimpong said more than 400 of his colleagues have died with some committing suicide as a result of the hardship.
He made these comments when the workers demonstrated against the refusal of Anglogold to pay them their Compensations.
The workers numbering more than 100, converged on the offices of Anglogold in Accra from Obuasi to present what they described as the final petition to management of the company.
The aggrieved workers wore red and black, displaying placards with inscriptions such as “We want our special compensation Anglogold Ashanti” and “we need our money now. Despite the presence of the police, the workers say they will not leave the offices of Anglogold untill a favourable response is received from the authorities.
Spokesperson for the group, Alex Frimpong said they intend to take their compensation including interest accrued.
“They were supposed to give us some compensatory pay and till now we have not received it. Now the compensation will attract damages and interest, $500m can solve everything. You know these people, when we leave here they will not givs us the response we want, so we will spend the whole day here.”
Mr. Frimpong said President Akufo Addo has to intervene or else more of his colleagues will die from poverty.
“About 400 of us have died; 200 of them committed suicide, out of 4,262 because they could not stand the hardship. The current MD, hes also the President of the Chamber of mine. We urge the President (Akufo Addo) to remove him from office because he is not fit to occupy that position”
Thousands of workers of Anglo Gold Ashanti, based at its Obuasi Concession were laid off in 2014, as the company began processes to scale down its operations.
Story by Nathaniel Nartey.
