Members of the Village Council of Campbelltown, in Region Eight, have voiced their disappointment at only being presented with copies of the petition seeking their removal one day before investigation into several allegations against them made by residents commenced.
On October 20th, Earl Gildharie and a few residents of the indigenous community handed over a petition, signed by 130 residents, to Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai seeking the removal of Toshao Marbel Thomas, her deputy, Samantha John, and other councillors of the village council on the allegation that the council was only allowing certain residents and foreigners to conduct mining activities in the community.
After receiving the petition, the ministry announced that it would examine the petition in detail and seek to address it in a manner that provides for natural justice. The statement added that the Toshao would be notified about the petition and would be told of its contents, including the allegation that the council was improperly installed.
However, the Village Council on Thursday lamented that it was never privy to the contents of the petition despite making several attempts to get a copy from the ministry. It said that the only allegations it knew of were the two that were made public by the Ministry.
“The village council of Campbelltown/Princeville and Mururwa were not satisfied that they receive the petition just a day before its actual hearing because in order to make accurate responses to such allegations, the council needed to have the actual petition in advance to have all evidence-based responses,” the council said in a statement on Thursday.
According to the now-suspended Toshao, Marbel Thomas, the committee appointed to conduct the investigation arrived in the community last Friday and she was given a copy of the petition. The rest of the Village Council was not given copies and so they made a request to the committee and it was only then they saw the allegations brought against them.
In the petition, residents claimed that the Village Council was illegally installed and that it had stopped Indigenous miners from conducting gold mining operations on their own land. In addition, residents have also alleged that the Village Council had not held a general meeting since its installation and has not been providing the community with any financial report.
A separate allegation was brought against Thomas, who was accused of physically and verbally abusing residents.
Following their arrival, the investigating team held a meeting with the Village Council and visited the mining area. A general meeting was held with residents on Wednesday and the members of the Village Council were allowed to defend themselves against the allegations. “We are satisfied that they held a general meeting and we were allowed to defend ourselves but they should have made us aware of the contents of the petition long before the investigation started,” Thomas said.
A report is expected to be prepared for the minister.
