‘16 fathers sue Shaanxi for deaths of their sons’ 25 June 2020

Sixteen grieving fathers have taken the Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited to the High Court in Bolgatanga requesting damages for the deaths of their sons. Renowned lawyer, Godwin Kudzo Tameklo, is representing the 16 parents, most of them elderly, in court as they press for justice in tears. Their sons, said to be small-scale miners, died in the Upper East Region after inhaling a toxic gas from an explosive reportedly blasted by the Chinese-owned mining company in January, 2019. They died one after the other just hours apart after drawing in the poisonous smoke whilst they were searching for gold underground at Gbane, an awfully disadvantaged community in the Talensi District.

Don’t give him water! Don’t give him water!” somebody cautioned aloud in the dark in the locally spoken Talen as a do-it-yourself rescue party, made up of some members of the community, helped in pulling out the dying victims from a fume-engulfed mining pit and carrying them on their backs with speed towards waiting vehicles readied for any health facilities they could find that moonless midnight. The caution, heard on a videotape taken whilst the desperate rescue efforts were underway, came after one of the victims gestured for water as he clung to the back of a rescuer foaming in the mouth and fighting for breath with both eyes partly shut.

...They are pushing for Gh¢360,000 per deceased person as well as the cost of funeral expenses and the cost of legal representation. The rest of the damages being sought (as highlighted in the writ) are for: “loss occasioned by negligence of defendant of personal services including, but not limited to, child service in minority which would have been received from the deceased; loss occasioned by negligence of defendant of personal services including, but not limited to, service for parents in their elderly years; for mental distress, consortium, loss of love, companionship, comfort, solace and moral support and any order(s) that this Honourable Court may deem fit.”