Around the middle of August, 2025, a written notice appeared on some social media platforms that a demonstration would break out in Talensi, a district in Ghana’s Upper East Region, against a Chinese large-scale mining company called Cardinal Namdini Mining Limited.
It was due to take place on the last Saturday of the same month.
Then, an unexpected wave of disinformation trailed the notice— and almost overtook it— with a warning that the police were going to fire live bullets at people during the impending protest because its organisers did not obtain the necessary permit.
It was an attempt to reduce the number of those who would like to participate in it or to prevent the demonstration from taking place altogether.
Sources say the disinformation actors were agents of some traditional authorities and parties in the area who are solely promoting the interests of the Chinese company for favours.
The demonstration organisers went an extra mile and spent extra energy, dispatching a commercial information vehicle with a megaphone atop its roof to go around the district and tell the public that the police had been duly notified about the demonstration and did not intend to shoot at anyone at the scene.
They also broadcast the same message through some radio stations in the region’s capital, Bolgatanga.
Even the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council tried to intervene on the company’s behalf, asking the protest leaders to allow more time for the council to engage the company.
But the leaders disagreed with the proposal, saying the same council had proposed to engage the same company in the past but the proposals did not materialise and only ended up ruining the demonstrations they had planned.
About five hundred people were expected to show up for the demonstration. When the day arrived, observers counted more than three hundred participants, carrying placards towards the site of the mining company and shouting protest slogans in the locally spoken Talen.
The organisers described the turnout as “a massive success” and would issue a public statement the following week, expressing gratitude.
TAMCI-Tongraan Showdown
The demonstration was organised by a local civil society organisation named Talensi Mining Communities Initiative (TAMCI).
Led by some intellectuals from the district, the organisation has been involved in an eventful struggle aimed at ensuring that all the people from the district benefit optimally from the mineral resources in the area.
The organisation is also dedicated to ensuring that all individuals and families who have been deprived of their assets, livelihoods and wellbeing or affected in any way by the operations of the foreign companies in the district are appropriately compensated.
Before the demonstration took place, TAMCI had organised a news conference in July at Sheaga, east Talensi, raising some accusations against the company and some traditional authorities.
It also made some requests at the conference on behalf of the communities and warned it would respond accordingly if the company failed to meet those demands in fourteen days.
A week after TAMCI had spoken to the press, the Paramount Chief of Talensi, Tongraan Kugbilsong Nanlebegtang, summoned its executive members to his palace over the accusations.
In response to the summon, they told him in a letter that they were prepared to meet with him but said it was legally impossible to do so at his palace for some reasons.
The chief had initiated a court case against them some years ago and the matter is still pending at a court of appeal. They said the same palace served as his private residence and so long as both parties were still in court it would be unsafe to go there.
The TAMCI executive members further suggested three “neutral venues” in the district’s capital, Tongo, for the meeting.
They proposed the conference hall of the Talensi District Assembly, the discussion room of the Talensi Traditional Council and the assembly hall of the Gbeogo School for the Deaf— all of which the chief subsequently dismissed with wrath.
Days later, he declared a ban on TAMCI’s activities in Talensi through a statement issued by the Talensi Traditional Council.
The ban, however, proved impotent as TAMCI ignored him and led a demonstration that drew a heap of praise from the public for the courage and the resilience exhibited by the organisers.
Demonstration and Petition
The TAMCI-spearheaded demonstration is the third one the Chinese company has faced on its premises in the past eighteen months.
On Wednesday, 13 March 2024, a fight broke out between the company’s authorities and workers over employment conditions. Several people were beaten and a sudden slap landed from behind on the jaw of an old soldier during the brawl.
One of the many concerns the Ghanaian employees raised during that protest was that the wages they were being paid were less than even the cigarette-smoking allowance their Chinese counterparts were taking from the company.
And in the early hours of Saturday, 7 September 2024, a bus carrying twenty-two workers of the company somersaulted twice close to the company’s site.
One person died in the crash and was buried the following day, according to reports. Eighteen of the victims were admitted to the Upper East Regional Hospital and three were referred to the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) in the Northern region.
While the victims were receiving medical treatment, their colleagues who were not involved in the crash mounted a demonstration against the company’s management on the day of the accident. They said the crash was the fourth bus accident the company’s employees had suffered since the firm began operations in 2020 in Talensi.
At the recent demonstration, officials of the company’s management stood outside the company’s main entrance, flanked unsmilingly by armed military and police personnel.
They listened as the TAMCI’s chairman, Bismarck Zumah, and secretary, Gilbert Laandolba, jointly read out a petition from two sheets of paper clipped together.
The petition stated that the company had sidelined a “Resettlement and Compensation Committee” that was established to ensure that the locals who were affected by the company’s operations were adequately compensated.
“Compensation packages for business owners, farmers and landowners have been inadequate, with arbitrary payments made without proper assessment or valuation.
“The company has failed to comply with the Minerals and Mining Regulations on Recruitment and Training (L.I 2431), denying local community citizens employment and training opportunities. Allegations of partisan considerations and corruption in the recruitment process have further exacerbated the situation,” one section of the document read.
More from Petition
The petition also noted that the company had turned Talensi on its head and derailed its progress efforts by creating needless “competition and rivalry” among traditional authorities in the district.
“We urge the company to cease its clandestine involvement in local politics,” it stressed.
Another concern expressed in the petition was the company’s alleged disposal of chemical waste in the district in a harmful way. The document also highlighted the company’s reported rejection of TAMCI’s proposals for “Relationship Agreements in Social Responsibility, Employment and Development Fund” as well as refusal to meet with its technical team and failure to respond to its concerns.
“The company’s operations have resulted in the loss of livelihoods, socio-economic freedoms and prosperity for our communities.
“Despite promises made during the initial stages of development, the company has not fulfilled its obligations, leaving our communities to grapple with poverty, poor infrastructure and inadequate access to basic services,” it added.
Demands and Deadline
The petition closed with the demonstrators making a number of demands and warning there would be more action if the demands were not met by the end of September, 2025.
“The so-called employment committee chaired by Baare Naba (the Chief of Baare) should be dissolved and a new inclusive and trustworthy committee should be established. The company should engage in roundtable discussions with our technical team within 14 days to certify and accept the contents of the proposed Relationship Agreements.
“The company should sign the agreements and form a formidable mining governance structure for sustainable community-company relationships and development. The company should dismiss officials implicated in alleged malpractices, including Maxwell Wooma and Emmanuel Kofi Adusei,” it stated.
They also demanded that the company collaborate with their technical team to set up a compensation committee with a mandate to review all compensation-related activities.
After listening to the petition and a copy handed to him by the TAMCI leaders, the company’s Executive Vice and Investment Director, Yinming Zhang, praised the protesters for their peaceful and orderly conduct throughout the demonstration.
He, however, expressed hope that no different groups would come forward later claiming to represent Talensi’s interests and staging protests against the company.
Days later, the company itself issued a statement, refuting the claims made by the demonstrators. TAMCI leaders say they have seen the statement and will take appropriate action in the next few days.
According to sources, the Tongraan summoned some divisional chiefs to his palace, as the public showered TAMCI with praise after the demonstration, to explain why they allowed the members of their communities to participate in the protest.
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org/Ghana
