Prof Gyampo Makes A Case For McDan, Others With Capacity & Expertise To Mine Ghana’s Lithium

Political Science lecturer at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Prof Ransford Gyampo is asking very crtical questions why the nation Ghana cannot look inwardly for local companies who have the finacial muscle and the technical expertise to exploit its mineral resources for maximum benefits.

He identified McDan and Engineers and Planners as capable local companies to expolit the nation’s mineral resources like lithium and retain the profits in the country for the benefit of the local economy.

Government through the Minerals Commission has granted mining lease to Barari DV Ghana Ltd, a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium Limited of Australia to commence the construction and mining of lithium at Ewoyaa in the Mfantseman Municipality of the central region.

According to government, for the first time in the history of Ghana, a mineral lease (the Ewoyaa lithium deal) contains provision for the establishment of a refinery that would ensure value addition, new and enhanced terms with increase in royalty from 5 percent to 10 percent, increased free carried interest for the State from 10 percent to 13 percent plus additional 6 percent in the mining operation for the state, as well as a 3.06% in the Company’s parent entity, which is listed on the Australian and London Stocks Exchange.

The deal was however greeted with several oposition from civil society orgsnisations in the extractive sector, members of the academia, media, political parties among others who described the deal as a total ripoff.

In a series of posts on his facebook page about the ongoing public outcry on the lithium deal, Prof Gyampo decried the tendency where people who are perceived to belong to other political persuations are destroyed for no reason.

He wondered whether no indigenious Ghanaian miner is qualified to mine the country’s lithium for a better deal?

Is it really the case that no Ghanaian miner is qualified to mine our Lithium for a better deal?Should we deny and destroy our own, just because they aren’t in our camps? The kind of partisan politics we practice in Ghana is NONSENSE!

Prof Gyampo who raised fundamental questions about the corporate tax including the 10-year tax holiday, special concessions on electricitiy cost and financial arrangements offered to the foreign company, Atlantic Lithium qurried if no Ghanain businessman and business such as McDan and Engineers & Planners are that broke and incapable of raising 50 million for the lithium project which Barari which got the contract could not raise?

So Engineers & Planners couldn’t have raised the 50 million (that was not even raised by Atlantic Lithium) to mine and at least keep the proceeds of the resources here? How about McDan? Are they this broke? In Ghana, we kill our own to live!

Meanwhile, government insists that the deal is the best for the country.

By: Christian Kpesese/www.eagleghana.com