Transforming lives in mining communities - MDF makes impact
After many years of battling water crisis, residents of Kenyasi, Diaso, Ntotroso, Wamahinso, Gyedu and other mining communities in the Asutifi North District in the Ahafo Region can now heave a sigh of relief.
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The daily ordeal of Fati Abdulai, a 34-year-old, and hundreds of residents in the 78 communities in the district who walk long distances in search of water for domestic use is a thing of the past.
"The long hours of hunting for potable water is a thing of the past because there are many boreholes now.
I now have enough water for domestic activities; and I get more time to go about my business," the trader at the Kenyasi Central Market said.
The magic wand, according to the Chief Executive of the district assembly, Anthony Mensah, was the “massive investment” in water facilities by the assembly, thanks to the Minerals Development Fund (MDF) a fund providing finanacial resources to residents of mining communities and other stakeholders in the mining sector.
"When I came into office, there was water crisis in this district, so we decided to look into gaps in water and sanitation services.
Asutifi North District Hospital at Kenyasi, constructed by MDF
The water coverage level was 41 per cent.
We drew a master plan and took a decision to invest in water infrastructure to tackle the challenge.
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As of now, we have succeeded in moving the water coverage to 89 per cent," he added.
He said with the support of other development partners, the district assembly had been able to construct 226 boreholes across the communities in the district.
“This is in addition to small water systems that have been constructed for some communities such as Kenyasi No.1, Ntortroso, Wamahenso and Gambia, while another one is ongoing at Kenyasi No.2," he told the Daily Graphic.
Wider picture
The relief Fati and the over 72,000 residents in the Asutifi North District have is just one of the success stories that residents of mining communities are telling about how the MDF has impacted their lives.
In the Western, Western-North, Eastern, Central, Ahafo and Ashanti regions, many of these mining communities are experiencing the impact of the MDF projects on residents as witnessed at firsthand by the Daily Graphic between 2018 and 2023.
The most recent experience was when officials from the MDF Secretariat went on a one-week inspection tour of four regions from April 12 to 17 this year.
Among the districts visited were Asutifi North in the Ahafo Region; Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai Municipal Assembly in the Western-North Region; Upper Denkyira West District Assembly in the Central Region and the Obuasi Municipal Assembly, Obuasi East, Akrofuom, Adansi North and Amansie Central districts, all in the Ashanti Region, as well as the Birim and Fanteakwa districts in the Eastern Region.
Many of the mining communities were receiving a facelift in terms of basic infrastructure in the areas of education, health care, water and sanitation; business development and electrification.
Apart from the investment in water infrastructure, 54 projects initiated by the Adansi North District Assembly with proceeds from mineral royalties had either been completed or were at advanced stages of completion. Key among them are the Kenyasi District Hospital and the Kenyasi Central Market projects.
Mr Mensah said all the projects emanated from the assembly’s medium-term development plan, which was drawn in collaboration with the chiefs, opinion leaders and other interest groups.
Upper Denkyira West
At Diaso in the Upper Denkyira West District, a 180-shed capacity central market was under construction through the MDF to boost business activities in the district. A similar market project was also being constructed at Ayanfuri to open up the local economy.
A district police station with a four-bedroom accommodation was ongoing in the town, with a similar project also going on at New Obuasi.
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The DCE of the area, Richmond Koduah, said 13 projects, including an ICT centre, teachers’ quarters and mechanised boreholes, were targeted at meeting the specific needs of residents in the various communities.
Akrofuom District
The Chief Executive of the Akrofuom District Assembly, Maurice Jonas Woode, said the district had received GH¢750,000 from the MDF over the past three years for projects.
He explained that the first tranche of GH¢500,000 was used to construct a 20-seater water closet system with bathrooms and another 12-seater water closet at Wamase, while the second tranche of GH¢250,000 was used for the construction of a Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound at Kubi.
Again, he said GH¢300,000 from the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL) had also been used to construct a three-unit classroom block with an office, teachers and students common rooms, as well as furniture.
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"We also received 85,000 oil palm seedlings from the MDF to plant on degraded lands that have been reclaimed.
The reclamation project is going well, and the community members are happy about it because the land will be given back to them to farm," he said.
Obuasi Municipal Assembly
At the Obuasi Municipal Assembly, two major projects had been constructed by the MDF to boost the health and education needs of the people.
At New Nsuta, popularly called Auntie Bee, a two-storey clinic with access routes had been built at a cost of GH¢1.5 million.
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The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the area, Elijah Adansi Bonah, said procurement processes were ongoing to equip the clinic with the needed medical facilities for it to be operationalised by the middle of this year.
Aside from the clinic, a six-unit junior high school classroom block had been completed at Kokoteasua at a cost of GH¢474,816. Additionally, he said another two-storey nurses’ bungalow would be constructed at the Sanso community this year.
Obuasi East
In the Obuasi East District, a GH¢450,000 multi-purpose community centre funded by the MDF was inaugurated at Ahansonyewodea to serve the social needs of the residents of the area.
The District Chief Executive of the area, Faustina Amissah, said the community centre was constructed based on the needs of the people.
"Apart from this community centre, two projects are also ongoing. We have a CHPS compound and nurses quarters being constructed at Kwameduakrom and Anyimadukrom communities to improve healthcare delivery in those areas," she said.
Eastern Region
The Birim North and Fanteakwa South districts in the Eastern Region equally had good stories to tell in terms of the impact of the MDF.
For instance, in the Birim North District, the local management committee (LCM) offered scholarships amounting to GH¢360,000 to 30 young people to go through one-year skills training at the Suhum Technical Institute.
Some of the beneficiaries — Gladys Donkor, Grace Ahenkorah and Acheampong Aikens Bismark — described the offer of scholarship as a golden opportunity to achieve their dreams.
Changing narrative
The Chairman of the MDF Board, Kwaku Sakyi Addo, said it was refreshing that after many years of mining, the residents of mining communities across the country were beginning to benefit from mineral royalties.
"A lot of the taxes that we get from mining companies are used to develop the big cities like Accra.
With the MDF, the local communities will see a fair share of the benefits. We have been visiting these local communities for a few years now, and things are changing for the better," he added.
Mr Sakyi Addo urged the various LMCs to ensure that disbursements made to them were used judiciously so that there would be value for money.
He stressed that since the MDF was meant to improve the living standards in mining communities, it was important for the LMCs to adhere to strict accountability regimes that had been laid down in terms of procurement and project execution.
The Deputy Administrator of the MDF in charge of Operations, Emmanuel Quaye, said he was impressed with the work that had been done by the LMCs in terms of development projects.
"The water projects, hospitals, markets, school buildings and even police stations that have been constructed in some of the communities will go a long way to improve the lives of the people, and I am excited,” he said.
Background
The MDF was established by the Minerals Development Fund Act, 2016 (Act 912) to provide financial resources for the direct benefit of mining communities and institutions responsible for the development of the mining sector, traditional and local government authorities and related matters.
The fund comprises 20 per cent of mineral royalties paid by mining companies to the state under Section 31(1) of the Mineral Income Investment Fund Act, 2018 (Act 978), grants, donations, returns on investments and gifts approved by Parliament.
Section 21 of Act 912 provides that 50 per cent of the fund goes to the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL), which is responsible for the collection of stool land revenue; 20 per cent to the Mining Community Development Schemes (MCDS), which are managed by LMCs; 13 per cent to the Minerals Commission;
eight per cent to the Ghana Geological Survey Authority, which is the institution responsible for carrying geological activities; five per cent for research; four per cent to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources for operational activities; while the MDF Secretariat retains two per cent for administrative expenditure.
The mineral royalties, which serve as a funding source for the MDF, are born out of Section 25 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2016 (Act 703), which mandates extracting companies to pay royalties ranging from three to six per cent.
Section 16 of the MDF Act (912) puts the responsibility on the MDF to ensure that there is a LMC to superintend development projects in mining communities.