Third World Network-Africa Writes To New Crusading GUIDE
We write in response to a defamatory article about Third World Network-Africa and its Coordinator, Dr. Yao Graham which was prominently carried in the 3rd August, 2021 edition of your paper. The article’s headline: “TWN STOKES FIRE IN ADA: Pitching Residents Against Songor Salt Project; Residents Demand They Stay Clear”, accompanied by the photo of Dr. Graham covered most of the front page whilst the substance of the story took up most of page 3 of the paper. The story was also published on your website https://thenewcrusadingguideonline.com/twn-stokes-fire-in-ada/.
The story, laden with misrepresentations and falsehoods, purports to be a report of interviews with anonymous “some youth”, “residents”, “some people”, “from Ada, mostly Salom, Toflokpo”. The author of the article is not named though the online version attributes it to “News desk”. The anonymity of the interviewees and the writer does not absolve the editors and owners of the New Crusading Guide from responsibility for publishing an article peddling falsehood and defamation.
The article makes three main allegations against TWN-Africa and Dr. Graham. That we are: 1) Opposed to the idea of developing the Songor Lagoon; 2) Being used by people who are “enemies of progress of Ada”; and 3) To blame for the tensions, disagreements and conflicts generated among the people of the Ada area over the developmental value of the government’s unprecedented decision to grant a monopoly over salt production in Songor Lagoon to Electrochem Ghana Limited (EGL). All these allegations are false and baseless.
- There is ample evidence, available in the public domain, of the long-standing commitment of and campaigning by TWN-Africa and Dr. Graham for the interests of the people of Ada to be at the centre of the development of the salt riches of the Songor Lagoon. Over the years, TWN-Africa, has worked with organizations in the Ada Area such as the Ada Songor Advocacy Forum (ASAF), YihiiKatseme and Radio Ada to defend and promote the interests of the people of Ada in respect of the salt riches of the Songor Lagoon. In December 2015 these Ada groups hosted at Sege, the annual National Mining Forum of the National Coalition on Mining (NCOM), for which TWN-Africa serves as a secretariat. The theme of the Forum and the choice of Sege was to focus national attention on the importance of salt in the lives of salt producing communities, especially communities along the Songor Lagoon. The event was attended by many Ada groups and traditional leaders as well as delegates from all over the country. Mr Anthony Klokpa, the then Municipal Chief Executive of Ada West, addressed the forum and commended the NCOM for organizing the event. Here are links to some reports on the 2015 Sege Forum:
- https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2015/12/07/group-calls-for-credit-facilities-for-salt-industry/ ;
- https://howardandgarbary.wordpress.com/2016/01/24/national-coalition-on-mining-artisanal-salt-miners-of-ada-and-keta/;
- http://duketagoe.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-peoples-struggle-around-ada-songor.html
In 2018-2019 TWN-Africa organized a series of meetings to draw attention to the need for government to be more supportive of artisanal and small salt and gold producers, including a multistakeholder meeting in April 2018 at Sogakope on salt production along the Keta and Songor Lagoon, culminating in a national conference in February 2019. Here is a link to a report on the Sogakope meeting: http://twnafrica.org/wp/2017/?p=1833. In August 2018 Dr. Yao Graham spoke to Joynews about on the need for government policy to put local people at the centre of the Songor salt industry. Here is the link to the Joynews video documentary – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGdsjt9SDK8.
- The above section provides clear illustrations of TWN-Africa’s tangible history of working to ensure that the interests of the people of Ada is placed at the centre of public policy in the development of the salt resources of the Songor Lagoon. This history shows the claim of the organization and Dr. Graham being used by people who are enemies of “the progress of Ada” for the falsehood and nonsense that it is.
- TWN-Africa is not responsible for the tensions and conflicts generated by the Electrochem project. Such a claim insults the intelligence of ordinary people of Ada and their ability to judge what is good for them. The root of the tensions and conflicts is the failure of the central government, the local chiefs who are cheerleaders for Electrochem and the company to provide local people with the most elementary information about the nature of the leases granted to Electrochem and its implications for local livelihoods and the security of their property. This is the main reason for incidents where residents of some communities along the Songor Lagoon have clashed with Electrochem workers who entered their communities and started working to the complete surprise of the communities. The confrontation that took place in Lolonya on 27th May is a case in point. Here is a link to a video of that incident https://web.facebook.com/RadioAda/videos/530210991661653. Unfortunately, the Police have, consistently, intervened on the side of the company, further inflaming the situation. On 5th August, lawyers representing persons arrested and communities stormed by the Police addressed a press conference to highlight the negative role of the Police along the Songor Lagoon. In July, the MP for Sege raised a question in Parliament on how soldiers were contributing to tensions along the Songor Lagoon. Here is a report –https://expressnewsghana.com/index.php/2021/07/28/mp-drags-defence-minister-to-parliament-over-military-raid-at-sege/.
At a broader level, from the get-go some local voices have been raised against the Electrochem project. See for example: https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Libi-Wornor-of-Ada-chiefs-appeal-to-govt-to-stop-Electrochem-from-taking-over-Songor-Lagoon-1158125
https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ada-communities-embark-on-demonstration-for-revocation-of-Electrochem-license-1165768. Even more recently, a July 2021 Joy TV video documentary shows local people expressing their disquiet about the project. See, Salt, Money and Power Hotline documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cvi_POjxlc.
The anonymous writers of the New Crusading Guide may not be aware of it but there is a long history of local organization and struggle for the equitable development of the Songor Lagoon. This has been particularly strong since Police, defending the interests of a large-scale salt firm, shot and killed an innocent pregnant woman in May 1985. Subsequent to that incident, the Ghana government, through a consultative process involving Songor communities designed and adopted a Master Plan for the development of the lagoon in 1991. Among other things the Master Plan aimed to:
- a) develop the maximum potential of Songor Lagoon for the salt industry; and
- b) reconcile the interests of the large scale and local small scale/co-operative salt producers and eliminate the contradictions that provoked conflicts among them.
It is the rally point for many groups in Ada in their expectations of the government policy for the Songor Lagoon and opposition to the Electrochem project. The powers used by President Akuffo-Addo to allow Electrochem’s entry into the Songor Lagoon derive from PNDC Law 287 which placed the lagoon in trust for the implementation of the Master Plan.
- The Songor Lagoon is very important in the lives of the people of Ada and the country in general. How it is managed by the government is a matter of national interest not only because of the effects on the Ada people and the national economy but also what it says about the use of state power and the accountability of government. Minerals are vested in the President in trust for the people of Ghana. The governance of the Songor Lagoon should also interest all Ghanaian citizens so as to ensure the government avoids the repetition of the abuse of its trustee responsibility and many mistakes made with past grants of mineral rights to private companies. This is the constitutional basis of TWN-Africa’s interest in and engagement around the Electrochem project, just as we have done in respect of many other mining projects since the late 1990s. All Ghanaians, in Ada and beyond, have the constitutional right to hold and express their opinions about the rights and wrongs of the Electrochem project. However, there is a worrying trend to seek to intimidate or malign those who are not partisans for the project. Along the Songor Lagoon, as has been the experience in many mining communities across the country, critical voices are experiencing the Police as de facto enforcers for one side of the disagreements about development choices. Is the New Crusading Guide crusading for free expression, fairness and truth or it is a partisan of one sided and defamatory journalism? It failed to meet the most minimum journalistic standards in not seeking TWN-Africa’s side of the story. It has an obligation to publish our side of the story with the same prominence it gave to the defamatory falsehoods against TWN-Africa.
Signed:
Cornelius Adedze
(Lead, Communications)
