Wacam activist receives National May Day award

Mr Adusah Yakubu, the Zonal Officer of Wacam for Kenyase area was among the people who were honoured at the 2015 National May Day parade held at the Independence Square, in Accra on 1st May 2015.

The citation of the award says Mr Adusah Yakubu started community mobilisation work with Wacam in 2005 when the operations of Newmont Ahafo Mine polluted community rivers, displaced communities and resulted in loss of livelihoods with the payment of compensation that did not restore the livelihoods of the affected people.

Mr Adusah Yakubu was described as being instrumental in organising communities in Brong Ahafo Region against the negative effects of the operations of Newmont Ahafo Mine.

According to the citation, Mr Adusah Yakubu was at the forefront of the campaign to hold Newmont Ahafo Mine responsible for the cyanide spillage which occurred on 8th October 2009.

The campaign on the cyanide spillage of Newmont Ahafo Mine exposed the attempt by the company to hide the spillage resulting in government imposing a fine of US$ 5million (GHC 7 Million) on Newmont Ahafo Mine at the time.

The citation recognised the leadership role of Mr Adusah Yakubu in the struggle to hold the Asutifi North District Assembly accountable for the use of the community share of GHC 3.1 million of the penalty imposed on Newmont Ahafo Mine in the cyanide spillage for the construction of a Hospital for the Asutifi District instead of the construction of a market as proposed by the District Assembly.

The citation mentioned that Mr Adusah Yakubu demonstrated extreme courage when he worked with other activists of Wacam to defy all odds to expose the discharge of faecal waste of Newmont Ahafo Mine into Community Rivers.

The citation described Brother Adusah Yakubu as an activist who used the knowledge gained from Wacam’s rights education programme in training community people on their rights and sharing his mining advocacy experience with mining communities in Brong Ahafo , Ashanti and Northern Regions.

The citation stated that Wacam has benefitted a lot from the grassroot organisational skills of Brother Adusah Yakubu which had enriched Wacam’s community-based mining advocacy work. He is a devout Muslim and married with two children.

The citation stated that Brother Adusah Yakubu was honoured with the 2015 National May Day Award in recognition of his courage, sacrifice and commitment to the protection of the rights of communities affected by the operations of multinational mining companies.

President John Mahama who gave the keynote address at the 2015 National May Day parade congratulated the May Day Award winners for working so hard to gain recognition.

The National May Day parade was attended by people of all walks of life including members of the Diplomatic Corp, Employers, Ministers of State, Parliamentarians and thousands of workers who are members of organised labour.

Mr Adusah Yakubu received a double-decker fridge as part of the award.