Ex-Bogoso–Prestea Mine workers demand payment of arrears, urge state intervention

Former workers of the Bogoso–Prestea Mine have renewed calls for government intervention following what they describe as repeated failures by Heath Goldfields Ltd. (HGL) to honour its financial obligations to them.

Speaking at a news conference in Prestea on Thursday, spokesperson for the workers, Kwame Kyei Addo, said the former employees have reached a breaking point after months of unfulfilled promises.

“Our patience has been stretched to its limit. The time for further promises has passed,” Mr. Addo said, reading from a jointly signed statement. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”

The mine’s previous owners, Future Global Resources (FGR), had their lease terminated in August 2024 following months of agitation by workers over unpaid salaries and benefits.

The lease was subsequently reassigned to HGL in November 2024 on condition that it would clear all outstanding entitlements, stabilize operations, and revive the mine.
However, nearly a year later, Mr. Addo said HGL has failed to meet most of its obligations, leaving over 400 disengaged workers “in severe financial distress.”

“Despite clear legal mandates under Ghana’s Labour Act and repeated commitments made in official memos, HGL has defaulted on payments relating to provident fund arrears, end of service benefits, accrued leave, bonuses, and other statutory entitlements,” he said.

The workers also raised doubts about the circumstances surrounding the lease transfer, noting that HGL’s inability to honour its financial obligations “raises pressing questions about the adequacy of financial due diligence” before the reassignment.

The group acknowledged interventions by Lands Minister, Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, whose 120-day ultimatum in May 2025 led to limited payments to some former employees. “Without this intervention, not a single non-unionised affiliated worker would have received any compensation,” the statement noted.

But Mr. Addo said the company continues to “defy both moral and legal obligations” and called for immediate state intervention to compel HGL to settle all outstanding dues and to audit its financial and operational capacity.

“We, the former workers of Bogoso–Prestea Mine, call on the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Minerals Commission, and all relevant state authorities to act decisively and without delay. The dignity, livelihoods, and rights of Ghanaian mine workers must not be sacrificed at the altar of empty assurances,” the statement concluded.

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