MARGARET KUWORNU; Gov’t Apologises for her Killing!

By Duke Tagoe

The Government of the Republic of Ghana has rendered an apology for the death of Margaret Kuwornu, thirty-two years after she was killed.

Margaret Kuwornu was shot dead by a stray bullet in a police raid on salt winners in the Songor Lagoon at Bonikope in Ada on Friday 17^th May 1985, following calls from the management of Vacuum Salt Company Limited that some communities around the lagoon had encroached on their concession in the lagoon.

The communities along the Songor lagoon had expressed dissatisfaction over the newly introduced model of privatization that increasingly posed a threat to communal access to the lagoon as a source of livelihood.

The communities had been demanding a return to the communal values that recognised collective ownership of the Ada Songor lagoon and insisted that those who lived closest to the resource must have an unrestricted right to it.

The current District Chief Executive of the Ada West District, Mr Adzoteye Larwer Akrofi, who made the apology on the behalf of Government for the death of Margaret Kuwornu, a pregnant woman at the time of her death, called on the family of the deceased and the people of Bonikope, in the Ada Traditional Area and pleaded that they get over the series of events surrounding her “painful” death.

“We all know about the stray bullet that killed Margaret Kuwornu, it was not intentional but accidental. It should never have happened. Her death is deeply regretted and that is why former President Jerry John Rawlings came here when the incident occurred to mourn with her family.”

He was speaking at an event organised by the Ada Songor Salt Women’s Association (ASSWA) to commemorate the 32^nd anniversary of the death of Margaret Kuwornu popularly referred to as “Maggie”.

According to the District Chief Executive, the administration of President Akufo Addo will do all it can to avoid the near occurrence of such an incident in the future by putting in place a conflict resolution mechanism with regard to the management of salt and all other resource in the country.

Members of the Ada Songor salt women's association

Mr Larwei Akrofi said “I hate violence in my life and this government also hates violence but we believe in dialogue. Even in Palestine where there have been many years of war, the people will have to sit and dialogue in the end. Please resist the temptation to pick up arms and violence and let us jaw-jaw”

Daniel Wudome, a special assistance to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, … John Peter Amewu, said the new government was conscious of all the challenges surroundings the exploitation of natural resources across the country including the currently topical issue of Galamsey.

According to him, President Akufo Addo has decided that natural resources must be exploited in an environmentally friendly manner and will ensure that all resources endowed the country is held to the benefit of all.

Mary Akuteye, President of ASSWA

Mary Akuteye, President of the Ada Songor Salt Women’s Association insisted that PNDC Law 287 is the only legal framework which recognised the traditional communal access to the Songor for the people of Ada and for every Ghanaian on an equitable basis.

She therefore called on the Akufo Addo led government to uphold PNDC Law 287 which instructs that the “Songor should be developed for the benefit of its contiguous communities and in the public interest”.

She also condemned the growing phenomenon of Atsiakpo- the creation of dug out pits around the Songor lagoon- into which water from the lagoon is siphoned for the production of salt.

According to her, this invention mostly introduced by major salt producing companies and by some wealthy individuals and chiefs, impacted adversely on the lagoon and led to the marginalization and enslavement of many women who were left without an option but to win salt in these semi-dams for the owners for paltry sums of money.

ADA SALT WOMEN ARE ANGRY

Doris Mensah , member of  (ASSWA)

By Duke Tagoe

Two hundred women of the Ada Songhor Salt Women’s Association (ASSWA) have held a mammoth demonstration and a media conference at Sege and in Accra concurrently to press home their demand for the collective ownership of the Ada Songhor Lagoon.

The salt winners insist that the lagoon must be maintained as a communal resource open to all salt winners from communities along the lagoon and to every other Ghanaian.

They have also fiercely condemned the construction of huge dykes, popularly referred to as “Atsiakpo” which are reservoir made for water siphoned from the lagoon for the production of salt by some individuals.

At peak levels, the lagoon produces 250 metric tonnes of salt, but that potential has dwindled over the years due to the privately owned dykes that have also caused the destruction of the landscape of the Ada area.

Doris Mensah, a salt winner, who participated actively in the demonstration, was enraged at the destruction of her livelihood and those of several other women.

According to her, “The emergence of the Atsiakpos had driven the once independent salt winners into wage labourers, who are paid a pittance for each pan of salt wined for the owners of the dykes.”

In what can be said to compound the problem and is considered as a worst forms of human rights violation, Doris alleged that on many occasions the private owners of the dykes demand sexual favours from the women before they were allowed to win salt for themselves.

Addressing a press conference in Accra, Mary Akuteye, the President of the Ada Songhor Salt Women’s Association pointed out that the Songhor Master Plan of 1991, developed by the assistance of the Cuban government was the solution to much of the problems surrounding the Ada Songhor Lagoon.

“It is certain, that the Songhor Master Plan of 1991 is the most important document that recognizes our rights as indigenous primary stakeholders and seek to integrate our livelihood needs with government and business interests,” she said.

According to her, although a majority of the salt winners were non-literate, because of poverty and cultural barriers, they were nevertheless knowledgeable about the laws, plans and agreements around the lagoon.

Among several demands packaged in a petition to President John Dramani Mahama, the salt winners of Songhor demanded support in their mobilisation efforts as women and also demanded inclusive, equitable and sustainable development by duty bearers by the endorsement of the Songhor Lagoon as a common resource.They equally pleaded with the President to abide by the United Nations Declaration of the rights of Indigenous People (UNDIP) and exercise stewardship over the lagoon as a communal resource for the elimination of the private dykes.

The demonstrators also demand that government “proactively and urgently institute policies and effect action to implement PNDC law 287 to “ensure the efficient development of the Ada Songhor lagoon to the benefit of the contiguous communities and the public interest.”

The struggle for the control of the Ada Songhor Lagoon has a long history. On the May 17, 1985, Margaret Kuwornu, a pregnant woman was shot dead by a band of policemen in their quest to drive out some local people who were believed to be mining salt at a part of the lagoon believed to have been given to Vacuum Salt Products Limited, on concession. A statue of Margaret Kuwornu has been erected very close to the lagoon as a reminder of the agony and the continuing attempts at the takeover of the Ada Songhor Lagoon. 

SONGOR LAGOON UNDER THREAT !!!

Atsiakpor, a major threat to the Songor Lagoon

By Duke Tagoe

A few powerful men are wrecking untold havoc on the Ada Songor Lagoon with associated devastating environmental consequences.

The Lagoon produces a greater part of salt consumed in Ghana and in many Western African states including Togo.

Fishing activities have also been badly affected as water levels in the lagoon have dropped greatly driving communities along the lagoon into a state of desperation.

Private businessmen in connivance with local chiefs have demarcated portions of the lagoon and have grabbed huge swaths of lands around the lagoon.

As if that were not enough, with the aid of electric powered pumping machines, water is pumped out of the lagoon into dug out dams or dykes locally called “Atsiakpo” for the production of salt.

A cross section of salt winers and the media at the Songor Lagoon

These dykes are owned by a few people and have driven many salt winners out of business. The poverty stricken salt winners then work on these dykes and win salt for the owners of the dykes at fifty Ghana Pesewas (50p) per bowl.

Rev. Sophia Kitcher, Secretary of Okor Songhor Women’s Association has taken a swipe at the complicity of the local chiefs and clan heads in what she considers a crime and describes as “repugnant”.

“Our livelihoods have been destroyed forever and poverty has come to visit us again. Why must a handful of people forcefully take what must belong to everybody, ” she questioned with tears running down her face.

The phenomenon of “Atsiakpo” has also contributed in many ways to the destruction of the landscape and other living organisms in the soil.

The locals believe much of the problem will be resolved when the sandbar between the sea and the lagoon is removed. However the sums involved in the removal of the Sand Bar are huge and runs in the millions of Ghana cedis.

A pile of salt close to an "Atsiakpor

In 2011, a combined team of representatives from the Minerals Commission, Attorney General’s Department, the office of the Chief Justice and the Private Enterprises Foundation attempted to relocate communities and indigenous people along the Songor Lagoon for takeover by strategic investors but the move was met with stiff resistance.

“When they came, they asked us to move away from the lagoon and promised to give us alternative livelihood in farming and animal rearing and those who were interested in fish farming would be moved to settle along the Volta River” said Albert Apetorgbor of the Ada Songor Cooperative.

The cooperative is leading in the transformation of salt winning communities and is challenging the exclusive monopoly rights over the lagoon.

Dr Yao Graham, Chief Executive Officer of the Third World Network and a leading advocate of the National Coalition on Mining (NCOM) is beside himself with grief. According to him the problem around the Songoor Lagoon has to do with the push for large scale foreign investment as a strategy for the mining sector.

He said that in places where small scale activities like salt wining can thrive, government still find a way of bringing in foreigners to take over these activities.

Dr Graham said the evidence does not support the claim that large scale foreign investment will create jobs and develop the areas where the investments are made.

 

A monument erected for Margaret Kowornu

On 17^th May 1985 armed policemen acting in concert with a private company raided Bonikope, a community along the Songor Lagoon killing Margaret Kowornu, a pregnant woman in the process.

Vacuum Salt Products Limited had alleged at the time that the inhabitants of the area had encroached on their portion of the lagoon allocated to them by the government.

A monument has been erected in memory of Margaret. The locals explain that that monument serves as an embodiment of their collective aspirations and imbibes in them a zeal to fight in defense of their heritage and the Songor lagoon.

Dr David Pessey a member of the Socialist Forum of Ghana has also described the state of the Songor Lagoon as a calamity of monstrous proportion and has called for a concerted effort to halt the “grab of the lagoon as a collective resource. He said “the quest for the maximization of profit has inebriated certain individuals who wield immense power and believe they can hold sway over the indigenous people.”

Dr Pessey expressed fear that an Environmental Impact Assessment will reveal that developments taking place around the lagoon are having a severe ecological impact on the immediate surroundings.

In the Ketu-Keta Lagoon area, Kensingtoon Industries Limited, a salt winning company entered the Dogbekofe area even before permission was granted. 

The communities living along the Ketu-Keta lagoon were not consulted by the investors before the acquisition of the lagoon.

Editorial

LISTEN TO OSAGYEFO

It is always most useful to listen to the words of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Founder of the Republic of Ghana. At the very least they describe our condition and prescribed solutions to our problems.

In the introduction to his book “Neo Colonialism; The Last Stage of Imperialism” he writes, “The essence of neo-colonialism is that the state which is subject to it, is in theory, independent and has all the outward trappings of international sovereignty.“In reality its economic system and thus its political policy is directed from outside”.

In the same book he also wrote “A state in the grip of neo-colonialism is not master of its own destiny. It is this factor which makes neo-colonialism such a serious threat to world peace.”

 Need we write more?