Dynamics of community perceptions, common resources and compensation practices in mining

The case of Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd at Ahafo

Bibliographic Data

ID12960488
AuthorsJohn Tiah Bugri (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, corresponding author), Samuel Kumi (0000-0001-8136-3687)
Year2018
Volume12
Issue1
Pages1-24
Publication date2018-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of the Commons (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1875-0281 • E-ISSN: 1875-0281
PublisherUbiquity Press, Ltd. (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.18352/ijc.757
OpenAlexW2803038264
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited22

A critical issue confronting the mining industry and communities in Ghana is compensation for loss of land rights in mining activities. The 1992 Constitution and the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) both require compensation for the expropriated to be fair, adequate and promptly paid. However, fairness, adequacy and promptness are normative value judgments predicated on stakeholders’ perceptions. This makes controversies over compensation issues inevitable and in mining communities these are rife because of increased competition between mines and communities for land and the legal provision that the payment of compensation rests with mining companies negotiating with the expropriated. Using Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd at Ahafo, we analyzed data from a sample of 120 stakeholders in four mining communities which revealed a wide divergence between communities’ perceptions and mining company compensation practices, and weak enforcement of mining legislation. Communities were also not well resourced to negotiate for compensation with the transnational corporation. Also, we argue that the principles applied in compensation assessment as provided by law, especially in the case of common resources, contribute to unfairness and inadequacy in compensation for the expropriated. We conclude that this imbalance has negative implications for community-mining company relations and threatens sustainable mining operations. We therefore recommend the rigorous enforcement of legislation, introduction of appropriate governmental and mining company initiatives in building capacities of communities for improved negotiations for compensation, legal recognition of common resources as valuable community assets for compensation, the application of the investment approach to compensation valuation and improved CSR packages by mines as means of bridging the gap between communities’ perceptions and compensation practices and ensuring improved company-community relations in the mining industry

Business · Compensation (psychology · Enforcement · Legislation · Negotiation · Normative · Payment · Political science · Valuation (finance · Hydropower, Displacement, Environmental Impact · Law · Mining and Resource Management · Tailings Management and Properties · Finance

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