The Former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, has bemoaned Ghana’s attitude towards exploiting its natural resources to be free from the rule of external support, especially the International Monetary Fund.
According to her, if the country continues to “sell” its resources cheaply to outsiders, then the cycle of going to the IMF for funds will never end.
She made the comments in relation to Ghana’s lithium mining deal with Barari DV Ghana Limited.
The mining lease allows the Australian company to mine lithium for 5 years.
“Gold, diamond, oil, bauxite, those are what we call traditional minerals; all these have been there. Since we became independent, we have been going to the IMF, borrowing, with all kinds of terms, and we ask ourselves why. There’s this adage that if you are doing the same thing, don’t expect different results. If this is how you are going to continue to exploit and extract your natural resources, don’t expect ever to be free of the IMF. It becomes like cyclical malaria,” she was quoted by citinewsroom.com.
Sophia Akuffo insisted that Ghana must make the decision to move away from royalties to exploring its own resources.
“We should be exploring; each year we should be looking at similar situations in terms of resource availability, resource finding, and what they are doing. That is what we are saying. We don’t have to go back into the royalties,” she opined.
She emphasized that there could be a better deal than what is already being negotiated and urged the government to ensure that the country is not ripped off.
“There are so many variations, modules, which somebody should do their homework to be able to be in a position to recommend a number that will suit Ghana. With all the figures and all that. Simply ask yourself the question, is this formulation of an agreement for the exploitation of our national worth, as good as it could ever possibly be?” she questioned.
SSD/NOQ
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Sophia Akuffo is a former Chief Justice