Earned value management practices in the District Assemblies (MMDA’S)

One of the important targets of most Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts or programmes of mining companies are the local communities, which are known to be often negatively affected by mining operations. CSR programmes, among other things, are expected to contribute significantly to sustainable development of these communities. Unfortunately, the actual impact of CSR projects and programmes of mining firms on social, economic and environmental development of local communities is a subject of a long-standing debate over the years. This study was carried out with the general aim of assessing the corporates social responsibility (CSR) contribution towards sustainable development in the stakeholder communities by the mining company, Asanko Gold Ghana Limited (AGGL). The first research objective was to identify the CSR programmes provided by the AGGL for developing the stakeholder communities. The second research objective was to evaluate the extent of involvement of the community in CSR programmes of AGGL. The third research objective was to determine the challenges AGGL faces in discharging its CSR to the stakeholder communities The population for the study was made up all the twenty-three (AGGL, 2016) communities identified by AGGL as its stakeholder communities and the mining company, AGGL. The target population was made up of 2,537 units which consisted all the representatives of the communities in the local government assembly unit committee members, traditional chiefs and elders, personnel of community department unit of AGGL, and the community residents who had been compensated by the company. A sample of 348 respondents were used in the analysis, this had been selected from the population through stratified and simple random sampling techniques. The first findings of the research was that vocational and technical skill training programmes for the youth of the stakeholder communities was reported as a key CSR programme of the mining company. However, there were other essential areas for sustainable development of the stakeholder communities, but were not adequately addressed by the CSR programmes. The second research finding was that in spite of the number of engagements the company had had with various stakeholders at higher levels, it seemed that the local and ordinary members of the communities felt they are not adequately engaged by AGGL on CSR programmes. Thirdly, the study found that most respondents perceived the impact of divergent views of community members on the type of CSR as a challenge affecting CSR performance of the company. The ad hoc and reactive approach which largely seems to characterize the CSR efforts of the company, may also be attributed to the lack of a clear framework put together by both the central government and local governments as a road map of real transformation of communities affected by mining. One of the recommendations was that the scope of AGGL’s CSR programmes need to be broadened to address other essential developmental needs of the communities. Another recommendation made was that AGGL should step up its efforts in broadly consulting, engaging and involving the stakeholder communities in its CSR programmes. It was also recommended that AGGL should take advantage of these diverse views, into account when determining the various CSR programmes that could be implemented to address the needs of the communities for sustainable development.

Source: KNUST