The Company had gone to hire the Military to prevent peasant farmers of Teberebie in the Western Region of Ghana from using a short route around its Waste Rock Dump to their farms, and in the course of performing that function shot Mr Baidoo, 52.
According to a medical report, Mr Baidoo suffered multiple fractures of the femur that has resulted in the shortening of his right leg by six centimetres and thus now hobbles in his gait.
The negotiations – which were carried out under the Alternate Dispute Resolution Mechanism and had Mr John Opoku, a Legal practitioner as the Mediator – agreed on the payment of a tidy sum of money in addition to being responsible for the educational expenses of
the only child of Mr Baidoo to the tertiary level.
Mr Baidoo expressed his gratitude to WACAM and CEPIL for their support and Mr Poku for the able manner in which he handled the
negotiations and said he was very happy with the outcome.
Mr Augustine Niber, Executive Director of CEPIL, said: “It was
good that the Company agreed to settle the matter. As Lawyers for the
victim, we are happy with the outcome of the settlement. We were
particularly impressed by the mutual respect that was exhibited during
the negotiations process and believe that if the same spirit is
extended to the communities, there would always be healthy
company-community relations to prevent incidents of this nature from
recurring.”
Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, Executive Director of WACAM, noted
that though; “it is impossible to value human life in monetary terms,|
we are satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations. It is our hope
that the Company would learn to respect the rights of host communities
to avoid causing irreparable harm to innocent people”.
Mr Poku commended the parties for opting for ADR, saying: “We
have been able to reach an agreement on this difficult case to the
satisfaction of Mr Baidoo; Anglo Gold Ashanti; WACAM and CEPIL in just
about three hours; something which could have dragged on in the courts
for years.”
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