On March 12, 2024, the Government of Ghana granted Maripoma Mining Services Limited (MMSL) a 30-year Mining Lease to operate an Open-Pit Hard Rock Gold Mining and Processing Project in Zongoiri, Bawku West District, Kusaug Traditional Area, which will run until March 11, 2054.

This lease, if allowed to proceed, will irreversibly destroy our lands, pollute our rivers, poison our air, and rob future generations of their inheritance. The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) presented by MMSL is woefully inadequate and dismissive of the legitimate concerns of the people of Zongoiri and Kusaug.

THE ISSUES AT STAKE

1. Peace and Security: Kusaug, and specifically Bawku, is not at peace. Mediation is currently ongoing at the palace of the Asantehene, King of Ashanti. Any reckless attempt to mine in Zongoiri at this volatile time risks heightening tensions, inflaming passions, and sparking reprisal attacks. Mining under such conditions is not only irresponsible but also a direct threat to national peace.

2. Environmental Destruction: Open-pit mining will devastate farmland, contaminate rivers with mercury, cyanide, and arsenic, wipe out sacred groves and ancestral graveyards, and suffocate our communities with toxic dust and noise. The EIS ignores these realities, underestimating the destruction this project will cause.

3. Lack of Benefits: MMSL has not submitted any document which is committed to providing electricity, potable water, health facilities, schools, roads, jobs, scholarships, or any meaningful Corporate Social Responsibility for Zongoiri or Kusaug. This stands in sharp contrast to Newmont’s Ahafo model and other companies mining in other parts of Ghana, where communities benefit from compensation, resettlement, employment, and development projects.

OUR POSITION

Kusaug will not allow any mining in Zongoiri until:

1. Mediation and peace-building in Kusaug is completed.

2. Proper consultation and community engagement is conducted with chiefs, elders, youth, women, and local miners.

3. An enforceable Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is signed between MMSL, the Kusaug Traditional Authority, and the Zongoiri community, clearly spelling out benefits in employment, compensation, resettlement, and development projects.

OUR DEMAND

We, the people of Kusaug, are ready to fight with every lawful means to protect our heritage, our land, and our children’s future. Mining cannot be imposed on us without peace, without justice, and without equity.

CALL TO ACTION

We therefore call on all sons and daughters of Kusaug, friends of justice, and every Ghanaian who believes in fairness to join us in this struggle.

👉 Sign this online petition today.
Together, we will stop Maripoma Mining Services Limited from plundering our gold in Zongoiri.

✍️ Defend Kusaug. Protect our land. Secure our future.