Suspend the lithium lease agreement – Dormaahene appeals to government

Dormaahene Osagyefo Osaedeeyo Agyemang Badu II has appealed to government to suspend the country’s first lithium mining agreement due to its current terms which he believes does not favour the country.

The traditional ruler joins a host of calls made by civil society groups, experts, policy think tanks and a section of the public who have demanded further clarity or suspension of the contract terms with Barari DV Limited, a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium, an Australian mining firm.

Delivering remarks at the 2023 end of year review meeting of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs, the Dormaahene called on government to carefully relook at the terms of the mining contract to ensure that citizens get a fair share of the deal.

“Government has to suspend the contract and re-look at the terms because the mining company [Atlantic] has been given the license to mine not just lithium but another other resources it discovers within the concession area. That is not right because it will come to a time where we would lose control of our own resources,” the Dormaahene stated.

“We are not kicking against any mining of natural resources but we must ensure that the gains are shared equally and so government authorities must carefully re-look at the terms of the deal to bring peace among all stakeholders,” he added.

Meanwhile, former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has also kicked against Ghana’s first lithium mining agreement, describing it as no different to that of colonial type agreements, leaving Ghana with only a 10% share of the profits.

She described the deal as not being in the interest of Ghanaians and called out the framers of the deal for moving ahead with a poorly negotiated deal which was unfavourable.

The government of Ghana in a bid to tap into the vast lithium deposits in Ewoyaa, Central Region, signed a deal with Barari DV Ghana Limited to explore and mine lithium in Ghana.

Source: GhanaWeb