Years later we are still giving out our minerals for nothing – Oteng-Gyasi on lithium deal

The Former President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Dr. Tony Oteng-Gyasi, has decried how Ghana’s mineral resources are being given out to foreigners without proper benefits.

He said Ghanaians are still acting like their ancestors who gave out gold to colonizers for free without due royalties.

He said: “To put it blatantly, our forebears led foreigners to our wealth and handed it over to them for almost nothing. Today, our nation is in anguish about foreigners taking over gold mining illegally. Ghanaians still bring in foreigners and take them to places where the Ghanaians know that no gold can be found; sometimes not more than a few pickup vehicles, a few bottles of schnapps, and an insignificant amount of cash given to them”.

Oteng-Gyasi said the people of old can be forgiven for negotiating bad deals but the current generation cannot be excused, especially because of the level of education and awareness that they have.

“We allow the mining of our precious metals to be led by foreigners who take away the major share of the wealth generated. We can excuse and forgive the three Josephs for their naivety and simple-mindedness, but how about our generation with our education, our awareness, and our supposed sophistication; should we forgive ourselves, whose fault is this,” he was quoted by myjoyonline.com.

He questioned, “Is it our destiny in this 21st century to hand over our wealth for little or nothing?”

Dr. Oteng Gyasi said the Mining and Mineral Law that mandates 10% free shareholding by the state in every mining is insufficient.

“In fact, in even formal and large-scale mining, our laws mandate 10% free shareholding by the state in every mining, but some mines declare little or no profit. So dividends from the shareholding are a pittance compared with the value of minerals being mined,” he concluded.

SSD

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