Global Journal of History And Culture Vol. 1(1) pp.007-021, January 2012 Available online Available online http://www.globalresearchjournals.org/?a=journal&id=gjhc Copyright ©2011 Global Research Journals. Full length Research. MINING AS A FACTOR OF SOCIAL CONFLICT IN GHANA Ofosu-Mensah, Ababio Emmanuel Department of History, University of Ghana, P.O. Box 12, Legon, Accra, Ghana. Corresponding Author’s Email: ofosumens@yahoo.com; ofosumens@ug.edu.gh , Tel: +233-208528333 Accepted 12 th November 2011. Post-colonial Africa has witnessed a phenomenal increase in conflicts mostly arising out of disagreements over a variety of issues including land, chieftaincy, resource allocation, environmental degradation etc. The West African sub-region has had its fair share of these upheavals notably in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and La Côte d’Ivoire. Ghana is among the few countries in West Africa perceived to be an oasis of peace in a region otherwise characterised by civil wars, rebel activities and general instability. But this image about Ghana only masks a festering wound of communal violence, inter-ethnic conflicts and armed confrontations in the Northern part of the country. The root causes of these conflicts which have almost become persistent are largely traceable to the introduction of secular political authority (Chieftaincy) in areas which before colonisation were said to be stateless or acephalous. This article argues that northern Ghana is not the only place in the country where conflicts erupted or occurred and that the quest for resource control in the Gold and diamond impregnated areas in the south was also a factor of social conflicts in Ghana during the pre- colonial, colonial and post-colonial periods. This paper’s primary concern is to interrogate related issues and explore the prevailing debates. Key Words: Ghana, conflicts, gold, diamond, mining, disputes. Introduction Since the beginning of recorded history, gold has played a very important role in the world economic and social order. (Ayensu, 1998). Gold compares with all that is elegant and precious, hence the demand for it has been great and men have stopped almost at nothing to acquire it. People of all races and ranks have given their lives for it and for the wealth and power that it promises to bring. It is a prized possession in all countries, in all cultures and in all the ages of history. (Ayensu, 1998). People have always prized gold as the most valuable commodity because of the worth which is attached to it as an article of ornamentation and also because of its conventional value as a basis for currency. Gold mining has had a long history in Africa. (Junner, 1935; Hopkins, 1973; Songsore et. Al., 1994) Africa is the world’s largest producer of gold (Agbesinyale, 2003), and according to estimations by Maponga, the continent hosts 30 percent of world reserve base. (Akabzaa et. al, 2007) After the discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand district of the Transvaal region of South Africa in 1886, mining operations grew continually from the 1890s and South Africa is now the world’s largest producer of gold. (Illife, 1995; Agbesinyale, 2003) West Africa in particular has been a major gold mining area for many centuries with activities dating back to the beginning of the fifth century. (Junner, 1935; Boahen, 1966; Keita, 2001) The earliest available records indicate that the forest peoples of modern Ghana mined gold for several centuries before the Portuguese landed on the Guinea Coast of West Africa. Known as the Gold Coast under British colonial rule, the country is fairly richly endowed with the precious metal. With the onset of colonisation by the British Empire and attendant resource-driven export-oriented economy, vast areas of the then Gold Coast were acquired by various prospectors for exploration. The colonial government, having prioritised mining as a major economic activity, vigorously pursued a policy that sought to enhance the role of mining in the various satellite colonies and the need for mineral resources to feed the industrial establishment in the British Empire. (Nyame et al., 2009) The auriferous areas that attracted the mining companies were Tarkwa in the Wassa district, Obuasi in Adanse, Konongo in Asante and the Akyem Abuakwa traditional area in the Eastern region. The latter state is not only a gold impregnated area but also diamondiferous (Junner, 1958). It is again worthy of noting that the control of these mineral resources has been a source of social conflict in Southern Ghana in the past and in contemporary Ghanaian society and this study will also delve into the issues surrounding this phenomenon.