The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei Owusu, has directed the Committee on Lands and Forestry and Mines and Energy to conduct a probe into the alleged agreement, authorizing Electrochem Ghana to embark on salt mining in Ada, with which the residents disagree.
A feud between Electrochem Ghana Limited and residents of Ada on Monday, November 6, resulted in a shooting incident in Sege in the Greater Accra Region, leaving one person dead and several others injured.
The First Deputy Speaker, in response to a comment made by the Member of Parliament for Sege Christian Otuteye in regard to the shooting incident, said the investigation would help ascertain the need to amend the ratification for part of the concession to be ceded to the indigenes of Ada.
“I will direct the Minister of Interior to brief the house about the incident, how violence came to be perpetrated and who shot into the crowd; whether it is the police or the security of the private company, and the Minister of Interior should brief the House on that one. After that brief, if there is the need for the Committee on Defence and Interior to look further, we will give the appropriate directions. But I suggest that the Committee on Lands and Natural Resources should look at the lease document again and visit the site and advise the House on whether it is possible to renegotiate the contract”.
President Akufo-Addo commissioned the Electrochem Ghana Limited salt mining company in Ada on August 30 amid opposition from the residents of Ada and the surrounding communities, who indicated that the company’s operation in the area would deny them their livelihoods.
Nene Mayilo Dadebom II, chief of Toflokpo, addressing the media after the terrible incident also emphasized that the Electrochem Ghana Limited salt mining company is trying to deny them access to mine in the Songhor Lagoon, which has been their main source of livelihood for years.
He alleged that Electrochem has employed the land guards to terrorize residents for some time now.
“We are not opposed to development, but we will not be prevented from continuing what we have been doing for years,” he said.