One year and six months after a violent confrontation between youth and AngloGold Ashanti in Obuasi East left nine people dead, families of the victims say they are still waiting for answers.

Haijia Bintu Saana, a citizen of Obuasi, specifically Obuasi East,”  said in a recorded statement on April 16, 2026.

“About a year and a half there was a little misunderstanding between some youths in my community and the AngloGold Ashanti, which resulted to the killing of nine people.”

Haijia stressed that the community is not declaring guilt. “We are not saying that either they are guilty or not.” But she said the silence since the incident has deepened wounds for bereaved families.

“For the past one year, the families who were bereaved and then the children who were forced to become orphans, nothing has been said to them.”

Beyond the nine deaths, she noted others were shot and injured.

“Nobody is speaking for them… It is going to affect them in the future.

So we are looking for justice for all those people.”

At the height of tensions, the National Chief Imam was called in to mediate because “most of the guys that were affected were Muslims and northerners.” she said his intervention helped calm tempers.

Now, the community is appealing for him to return. “We appealed through this petition to the National Chief Imam to come back to his own community and then tell us the outcome of whatever the negotiations or the discussions… that they had with the mining company and then the family.”

President John Mahama publicly promised a full investigation after the clash.

“The President himself came out… make sure that there is an investigation to the last point,” She recalled.

But with no updates, residents fear the case has stalled. “We know there are a lot of issues that the President is dealing with and everybody is busy.

So we want to remind them that the citizens are much concerned.”

She added: “We are not assuming or not anticipating that there is a foul play.

We are thinking that it's a process… But through the process, those of us that are affected are much concerned.”

For Obuasi residents, this tragedy echoes a painful pattern. “It happened about 20 years ago.

They killed some of our youth and then we didn't see anything.

But this time, we want to take a climax to a stop of those kind of killing.”

Haijia linked the unrest to joblessness in the mining town.

She said youth believe AngloGold Ashanti’s social responsibility should include local hiring, but “the youth say the people the company is employing are not from Obuasi community.

So it's triggered.”

“If I'm hungry and you are not giving me a job and there is job opportunity… those are the remote causes that triggered those actions from the youth.”

The community’s message is two fold:

1. Justice and transparency — “We just want the law to take its course… We are interested in the proceedings and we want to know.”

2. Address unemployment — “They should address the unemployment issue in Obuasi.

So that the youth can also have something to lay their head on and be relaxed.”

Hajia said there are “no timelines because the matter is already one year plus… But we just want them to know that this matter, we are not leaving it untamed.”

“If the youth come to your land… to mine and you think that they have invaded… there are a lot of ways that you can use to address those issues because they are human beings,” she said, appealing directly to the mining company. “Whatever that happened between them and the guys, we still want to know.”