By The Tranquility News Reporters, Tanzania
A London-based law firm is accused of shortchanging Tanzanian villagers a gold mine compensated for purpoted human rights abuses; The Tranquility Newshas learnt.
Leigh Day, which deals in employment law, human rights, clinical negligence and personal injury, sought the compensation on behalf of 13 villagers at North Mara Gold Mine.
The litigation against Acacia Mining Plc. owning the mine was settled out of court in 2015, compelling the gold mine to pay staggering Sterling Pounds 143,501.
Leigh Day though refutes taking a lion’s share of the compensation paid, available evidence shows the firm pocketed over 61 per cent, leaving one of the victims with the remaining 38 per cent.
One of the represented villagers Charles Marwa (not his real name) admits signing the Leigh Day’s letter on January 16, 2015, detailing his payment after the case was settled.
Marwa was finally paid Sterling Pounds 55,500 while the firm took home Sterling Pounds 88,001.
Leigh Day spokesperson Caroline Ivison, nonetheless, denied the firm benefiting from claimants as was the case with Marwa saying the allegations were false.
“We strongly refute the allegations on inappropriate and excessive fees,” said Ivison, explaining that significant legal costs were compounded by the intensity at which African Barrick Gold defended itself in the litigation as well as the duration of the case.
“No money allocated to claimants’ compensation was deducted for legal costs, we explained everything clearly to every client,” said Ivison as she declined to divulge details of their clients’ payments saying they were confidential.
Marwa was shot and injured in 2008 when invading the mine. A politician and activists linked him up with Leigh Day which filed a law suit in the UK before it was settled out of court.
Marwa, who is only one of the victims Leigh Day filed law suits against the gold mine on their behalf, said the politicians and activists told him the firm raised funds in support of claimants like him.
“So, all what we needed was giving full cooperation and following their instructions, assuring us that we would be compensated handsomely,” said Marwa as he recalled:
“I was happy when I received the Sterling Pounds 55,500 before my visiting cousin, who is a teacher at a neighboring village, clarified to me what exactly was in the agreement letter I signed.
His cousin wondered the firm, which pledged to assist the claimant free of charge, walked away with more than Sterling Pounds 88,001.
“It pained me a lot, I felt and still feel they used my problem for their own benefit,” Marwa lamented.
In its agreement letter, Leigh Day states: “Given the difficulties and risks of litigation, including extremely substantial risk of not being successful in the litigation, we consider that the total sum constitutes very good settlement of the claim.
“If you accept the settlement, the compensation paid in respect of the claim will be significantly more than you would have achieved if you had sought to resolve the claim without Leigh Day through the North Mara Gold Limited Grievance Mechanism.
“The amount that is proposed to be paid in settlement of a claim has been calculated by using the maximum total amount that could potentially have been awarded if your claim was successful.”
Marwa mulled resorting to court to seek assistance only to be discouraged by the politician he considered supporting him not picking calls after the payment was done.
Litigations and lawsuits on allegations on human rights abuse at North Mara Gold Mine is a climax of a well calculated syndicate.
A cartel comprising business persons, politicians and local and international human rights activists have for quite a long time been spoiling ties between the gold mine and the hosting community.
On the frontage, intrusions into North Mara appear as grievances against the mine, but a deep dive into the deadlock debunks the ugly organised criminal invasions.
Marwa admits some sponsors had organised the incident that led to his injuries, assuring him and his accomplices of their safety, as police officers on duty had agreed to cooperate with the intruders.
The intruders never noticed the law enforcers agreed with were not on guard at the area, they kept on moving forward even after several warnings.
“The police officers were resolute, making us angry, thinking they were betraying the deal into which they entered with our boss
We decided to fight and I got injured as we confronted the police officers, several law enforcers were injured as well,” Marwa explained.
A several months’ investigation by The Tranquility News reportersteam revealed that the so-called mining invasions are actually an organised crime.
Wealthier and influential business persons, politicians and civil servants run the cartel assisted by several unfaithful mine’s staffs.
The cartel has all along been enjoying the cover of human rights abuses once its invading squads clash with police officers guarding the mine.
The invasions are categorised in four classes, with the first one involving youth, women, and the elderly having little or no harm at all.
All what the first unarmed category does is collecting few stones around the mine without intruding into the mine or causing any violence.
The second and notorious category comprises hired youth from different parts of the Lake Zone. The third category, which consists of direct beneficiaries of gold ores stolen from the mine includes influential and wealthier people who recruit the youth in the second category.
This is the violent category armed with machetes, daggers and other tradition weapons that invades the mine in a broad daylight, as they dare police officers in their large numbers.
“On the façade they look like just youths aggrieved by the presence of the mine, fooling some human rights outfits to regard them as victims.
“They are very good at playing the victims’ role, but in reality, they are the assaulters,” says Timasi Peter, the chairman of Mujata, an NGO that deals with welfare of the society.
The third category facilitates all activities, including bribing officials when the need arises, and hiring, paying and protecting the youth invading the mine to fetch them gold ores ready for processing and selling at gold markets within Tarime District.
“The invasionsare well focused and calculated to make them appear as just expressions of grievances against the mine,” former village leader said on condition of anonymity.
“The litigations and lawsuits are not against the mine, they are actually against Tanzanians owning the mine through Twiga Minerals Corporation,” Timasi said.
Barrick and the Tanzania Government had jointly set a model for the natural-resource rich country to benefit from the godsend and avert resource curse, Timasi, who resides at Nyakunguru Village situated a stone’s throw away from the mine, explainedΩ