Painful and Unacceptable!, Prof. Oquaye Rejects 5% Royalty, Demands Better Deal for Ghana
Former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, has spoken against the government’s lithium mining deal with Barari DV, saying the royalty terms are unfair and do not favour Ghana. His comments followed Parliament’s decision on December 10 to withdraw the revised agreement for further consultations after concerns were raised that the proposed 10 percent royalty, agreed under the Akufo-Addo administration, conflicts with the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2010, which sets a 5 percent limit. Speaking on Channel One TV on December 15, Prof. Oquaye said the issue should not be about choosing between 5 percent or 10 percent, but about how Ghana can negotiate better deals from its natural resources. He described the acceptance of a 5 percent minimum royalty as a long-standing failure to protect the country’s interests and said it is painful that Ghana continues to earn little from valuable minerals, adding that the country should be pushing for royalties of at least 20 percent. The lithium agreement brought before Parliament by Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah focuses on the extraction of lithium and other minerals in the Mankessim area of the Central Region, and it has revived demands for mining arrangements that offer greater benefits to Ghana.
