In recent years, the mining sector has been marked by a growing number of artisanal miners on artisanal mining sites. This increase in the number of actors and sites is not without consequences for cohabitation between the actors. At the second Artisanal Miners’ Day (Journée de l’artisan minier – JAM 2023), held in Gaoua on 21 and 22 July 2023, the National Union of Artisanal Mining Exploiters of Burkina Faso (Syndicat national des Exploitants miniers artisanaux du Burkina – SYNEMAB) proposed solutions.
SYNEMAB General Secretary Koutiga Koama made the presentation. He is also a member of the Executive Board of the National Organisation of Free Trade Unions (Organisation nationale des Syndicats Libres – ONSL). The presentation revealed that there are conflicts between artisanal miners and industrialists, and between artisanal miners and landowners. Other conflicts arise between artisanal miners and local communities. Conflicts generally arise over the occupation of sites, the lack of mining permits, and relations with customary, religious and administrative authorities.
When it comes to conflicts between artisanal miners and industrialists, Koutiga Koama points out that they are often due to the ban on artisanal practices on mining companies’ operating permits. According to Koama, these conflicts frequently lead to open confrontations between artisanal miners and the security forces, often resulting in demonstrations and/or road blockades, the burning of mining company equipment, etc. Conflicts between artisanal miners and landowners arise when one of the parties feels biased by the terms of the contract or believes that the other party is not respecting the terms of the original contract. Without intervention (dialogue), the party feeling taken advantage of may take action that does not comply with the conflict resolution procedure.
Koutiga Koama says that conflicts between artisanal miners are the result of the lure of easy money. He notes that this often takes the form of theft, including the robbery of a gold buyer, or assaults on those who discover gold nuggets. The General Secretary of SYNEMAB pointed out that conflicts between artisans and local communities are mostly linked to inheritance and land rights. Indeed, as soon as gold is discovered in the subsoil of a piece of land, the original occupants or their heirs reclaim the land that they or their ancestors had given up, sometimes many years ago.
According to SYNEMAB’s General Secretary, the causes of the recurring conflicts in the sector are due to a number of factors, including the frustrations of the local population in relation to the social benefits expected from gold mining, the lack of knowledge of the rights and duties of each player with regard to land and mining, and the lack of communication and transparency on the part of the authorities and the companies or organisations of artisanal miners.
To avoid direct and indirect conflicts and confrontations in the mining sector, the Union, which is present in all 13 regions of Burkina Faso, and even outside Burkina Faso, intends to continue its awareness-raising actions by educating and training its members in non-violent conflict management. It calls on the government to set up consultation frameworks in the various localities with all the stakeholders and a monitoring unit to ensure peaceful cohabitation. It proposes that a multi-stakeholder management committee be set up or revitalised at each site. The union also advocates capacity-building for its members and the amicable resolution of conflicts.
Tiba Kassamse OUEDRAOGO
Mines Actu Burkina
