Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines Dr. Sulemanu Koney has slammed government for the continuous disrespect of the laws and regulations governing the utilization of mineral revenue especially mineral royalties.
According to him, government is not respecting the provision in the constitution which allows government to retain a portion of the mineral royalties to communities for development since its passage in 2016.
“By law there is a portion for government to retain a portion of mineral royalties to communities for development but government is not respecting it,” he stressed.
Speaking at a stakeholders engagement in the extractive industry on Cooperate Social Responsibilities in Takoradi Wednesday, December 7, 2022, Dr. Koney said it unfair for mining companies to be accused of lack of development in their operational areas when government has received all the necessary revenue from them to undertake the needed development.
“I will encourage the public and all those who have interest in the development outcome of host communities to start asking questions from duty bearers,” he added.
Meanwhile, Western regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah in a presentation at the event insisted the mining companies have been doing little for communities in their operational areas.
He pointed out that the government earns a paltry 3 per cent of the 7-billion-dollar investment in the mining sector.
“Mining in Ghana is a 7 billion business which involves five million direct and indirect jobs made up of thirty thousand jobs in the large scale sector and one million jobs in the small scale sector but only three percent of this amount goes to government in the area of cooperate taxes, VAT and royalties with the 97 per cent remaining in the mining companies.”
Other speakers at the workshop included Dr. Kojo Busia who is an independent Non-executive Director of AngloGold Ashanti Limited and the Director of African studies Centre at Oxford University, Professor Miles Larmer.
By Paa Kojo Peters|ConnectFM|Onuaonline.com
