THE Geita Gold mine has launched a football tournament that involves youths living around the mines.
The tournament involving Mtakuja and Nyankumbu wards in Geita Urban, aim to provide education to children and their parents about the effects of using young children in mining activities and denying them opportunities to get an education.
In addition, speaking at the launch held at the General Tire field in Geita yesterday, the CEO of Geita Gold Mining Limited, Terry Strong said children are an important part of the company’s business.
He said GGML has invested in schools, hospitals and other places where people can get services… as part of the Company’s Responsibility to support the community around the mine where through the programme, GGML built more than 600 classrooms in 2018.
“Young children are the future generation and they are the first to benefit from our investment. Our company adheres to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR) (UNGP).
“Therefore, we have agreed to protect children from any risks arising from the way we do business,” he said.
He said the number of children entering mining activities without permission has become alarming.
“Usually we use the term “saving the children” instead of “attacking the mine” because children are under the age of adults and are protected by national and international laws.
“However, due to our monitoring, many of the children who were rescued after entering the quarry area without permission, we have been finding most of them inside or outside our mining licence,” he said.
He said that according to the statistics they have, 680 children were rescued inside and outside the area of mine operations in the GGML mine between 2019 and 2020.
He said that to deal with this, GGML has been collaborating with local governments to launch a series of awareness campaigns, including direct collaboration with secondary and primary schools.
He added that in an effort to encourage children, involve them in sports and build a better lifestyle for the benefit of their health, “we have decided to organise competitions for children during the holiday period in a cheerful mood and during their holiday period,
“We expect that talented young people will emerge at the end of the competition, and that they will be hired in big clubs like Geita Gold Football Club (sponsored by GGML) to further show their abilities in Magogo Stadium (also sponsored by GGML). The plan is to save these children and help them develop their talents,” he said.
Earlier, the Vice-President of AngloGold- GGML who handles sustainable projects for Ghana and Tanzania, Simon Shayo said one of the important values of the company is to ensure that the community around the mine benefits.
