We campaign in the UK and internationally for new laws that will stop multinational companies harming the world’s poor.

ActionAid research found that poor communities in Obuasi in Ghana are suffering serious environmental pollution and social problems as a result of gold mining by a subsidiary of the UK-based mining giant Anglo American.

As the price of gold dips on world markets from near-record levels, poor communities in Obuasi are finding their livelihoods seriously threatened. Local rivers and streams have become polluted with arsenic, iron, manganese and heavy metals from gold mining activities by Anglo American’s subsidiary, AngloGold Ashanti (AGA).

Large areas of land in Obuasi previously used for cultivation are believed to have been contaminated through toxic water pollution and local people’s water sources are undrinkable. "They’ve told us it is poisonous because of the cyanide. Because I can’t sell my crops, my income has gone down." Local resident Mr Tessa says as a result, he has had to take his children out of school.

While AGA acknowledges some of these issues in public reports, investigations by ActionAid reveal serious discrepancies between AGA’s official version of events and the accounts of local witnesses.

ActionAid Ghana is working with the National Coalition on Mining to make the company clean up its act and the Government to protect the rights of its people from this corporate abuse.

This case provides condemning evidence of the impact of increasing corporate power. Without any binding regulations, big business cannot be held accountable for its social or environmental impact overseas.