“Response to an April 2018 Ngo “Assessment and  Recommendations” Regarding The Community Grievance Process at The North Mara Gold Mine, Tanzania”

… [North Mara Gold Mine Limited] appreciates the attention given to the North Mara CGP by RAID and the LHRC, in their preparation and dissemination of an “Assessment and Recommendations” paper regarding the new Community Grievance Process (“CGP”) at the Mine. The company disagrees, however, with many of the assertions and conclusions set out in the Assessment, and does not understand many of the specific criticisms that are made. These matters may however arise from misunderstandings regarding the structure and intent of the new CGP as it has been developed, and NMGML trusts that RAID and the LHRC will be in a position to reconsider and refine their views with the benefit of input, explanation and feedback from the Mine regarding the Assessment, including the matters set out in this paper…

The Handbook and SOP, as well as the discussion at issue 2 above, address NMGML’s responsibility to report potentially criminal activity, including of police and of grievants’ themselves. As noted above, this responsibility may come into tension with the Mine’s efforts expressed through the CGP process to protect grievants from harassment, intimidation, retaliation and re-victimisation, and its commitment not to retaliate against grievants. To enable the Mine to seek to adequately and appropriately deal this tension on a case by case basis, as well as ensuring the Mine continues to be able to meet any legal obligations it might have under local law, Article 1(4) of the SOP provides that the Mine “may need to refer credible allegations of criminal conduct to the appropriate Tanzanian authorities, and refer matters involving third parties to such third parties in order to help Grievants obtain effective redress.”…

In addition to addressing the right to remedy through the CGP, NMGML continues to be actively engaged with seeking to minimize and prevent impacts on members of its communities as a result of incidents involving Mine security personnel or the TPF. These efforts, including wider efforts by the Mine to promote and support sustainable livelihoods around the Mine, are addressed in Acacia’s Annual Report, and will continue to be included within North Mara’s annual CSR reporting.