The Co-chair of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr Steve Manteaw, has urged the government to negotiate a payment arrangement with Northern Ashanti Mines, arguing that outstanding statutory debt alone should not be sufficient grounds to revoke the company’s mining lease.
Dr Manteaw said keeping the mining business operational would serve the interests of regulators by enabling the company to generate revenue and settle its outstanding obligations.
“I don’t think indebtedness constitutes enough grounds for the revocation of a licence. It does not. But if there are serious technical breaches, then we can talk about revocation. But if somebody owes you, you sit down and negotiate for the payments,” he said.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story, he was responding to the Minerals Commission’s claim that Northern Ashanti Mines owed more than US$8.38 million in statutory fees.
He advocated a less confrontational approach to resolving the dispute, particularly as the government seeks to increase Ghanaian participation in the mining industry.
“And it should be in your interest that that business exists and thrives in order to pay what it owes you,” he added.
Manteaw warns against undermining local mining firms
Dr Manteaw expressed concern about the handling of the dispute, saying it could reinforce perceptions that Ghanaian-owned mining companies were being unfairly targeted.
He warned that revoking leases and shutting down local mining businesses over financial difficulties could undermine the government’s policy of increasing Ghanaian ownership and participation in the mineral industry.
“A Ghanaian mining company may have a problem, but once you want to localize our mining industry, you don’t revoke leases and close them down by act. You identify the challenges we are going through and help them to overcome the challenges,” he said.
He added that the handling of such disputes could send negative signals to investors and creditors considering financing locally owned mining operations.
According to him, supporting companies to overcome financial difficulties would be more consistent with efforts to build a stronger domestic mining sector.
Calls for Northern Ashanti and Adamus disputes to be linked
Dr Manteaw urged the government to consider the dispute involving Northern Ashanti Mines, which operates the Konongo mine, alongside the challenges facing Adamus Resources in the Ellembelle area.
He noted that President John Dramani Mahama had issued a directive and roadmap to resolve the Adamus dispute, and argued that the two cases should not be treated separately.
“Let us not treat Konongo separately from Ellembelle. It’s, for me, one problem of indebtedness and challenges,” he said.
Dr Manteaw maintained that while regulators had grounds to act against serious technical breaches, companies experiencing financial difficulties should be given an opportunity to negotiate and settle their obligations.
He appealed to the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources to adopt a less acrimonious approach to the Northern Ashanti Mines dispute, warning that the current handling of the matter could weaken confidence in the government’s commitment to promoting local ownership of the mining sector.
“It’s not turning well on the government,” he added.
