Despite widespread requests for the government to reconsider the Lithium deal, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has stated that the agreement between Ghana and Atlantic Lithium of Australia remains the best mining licence in Ghana’s history.
In comparison to other mineral agreements, he stated that the government would receive 13% in royalties and a 30% interest in Atlantic Lithium.
Some religious leaders have served notice of their intention to submit a petition before Parliament to halt Ghana’s lithium agreement with Barari DV Company Limited.
Speaking at a roundtable discussion at the Institute of Economic Affairs in Accra on Tuesday, the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, Reverend Paul Boafo and the Spokesperson of the National Chief Imam, Sheik Aremiyaw opined that the current deal must be renegotiated.
It was their view that the deal was not in the best interest of the country.
The spokesperson for the Chief Imam, Sheik Aremiyaw said “The mineral resources of our country do not belong to us alone but they belong to the unborn children. Once the mineral resources of our country are kept and entrusted, those who manage it do not own it.
“They are accountable to society, so for them to engage in any contract there must be a certain engagement where the people are satisfied. We cannot as a nation sit down and let this also go down the drain and let people take it away for us to suffer.”
Reverend Boafo on his part called for a revised agreement that prioritizes Ghana’s interests “I think that what we ought to do is to take this agreement, look at it critically come out with what we [Ghanaians] want.”
But in an interview with Bloomberg, the Minister indicated that the agreement will benefit Ghana and that the government is retaining as much of the top end of the value chain as feasible.
“Green minerals, lithium, energy transition, and all of that, our president and his government have insisted that we treat these minerals differently from other minerals in the past, which is why we have come up with a policy on the management, exploitation, and utilization of the green minerals of our country, including lithium.”
“We have signed some deals with Atlantic Lithium, but we have done all of that in a manner that is fundamentally different from what we did in the past and most importantly, the remarkable difference between what we did in the past and what we are doing now is that we are retaining the highest end of the value chain as much as possible.”
By: Rashid Obodai Provencal/Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
