Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mr Sulemanu Koney, has stressed the need for the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to enact a Mineral Revenue Management Act to deepen transparency and accountability in the mining industry as enshrined in the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).
According to him, the call has become very necessary because the promulgation of a law similar to Petroleum Revenue Management Act 2011 (Act 815), to regulate the minerals revenue would go along way to provide the needed opportunities for residents in mining prone communities to apply minerals revenue to the most critical areas of their communities.
He stated that Mineral Revenue Management Law like other natural resources, are finite and their prices are externally determined, which makes the returns susceptible to shocks.
He said the cyclical behaviour of mineral prices and exhaustibility of mineral resources pose a major challenge to mineral dependent economies such as Ghana with respect to sustainable development.
He stressed that in order to smoothen the expenditure of inflows from resources that were finite and exhibit price volatility, most matured economies enact fiscal laws to govern the use of natural resource revenues.
Mr. Koney made the call while addressing participants at the second public lecture held in Accra on Friday, November 23,2018 organised by Ghana Chamber of Mines in commemoration of its 90th anniversary celebration.
The event was attended by the key players in the extractive sector, including the Dean of Postgraduate Studies Department of the University of Mines and Technology, Prof. William K. Bush, Vice Chancellor of the University of Mines and Technology, Prof. J.S.Y. Kuma and President of Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mr Eric Asubonteng, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Frimpong Boateng and Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Kwaku Asamoah-Cheremeh.
It was on the theme; “A responsible and sustainable mining industry; a partner for national development.”
Mr Koney stated that the delay of the government to pass a Mineral Revenue Management Act had been disadvantage to the residents of the mining communities in the country.
According to him, he mineral revenue management law was significant to support more effective and efficient management and the use of revenues from the mining industry.
He explained that an opportune period of time for the central government to pass a law to to regulate and address the fiscal challenges in the allocation of mineral revenue was now.
According to him, the new administration needed to operationalise the local content policy in the mining industry to ensure mining companies adhered to local regulations.
The CEO of Chamber was unhappy about the under development in the mining communities and called on government to respond to the situation by way of effectively implement the local content of the Minerals and Mining Act 2006.
He noted that despite the meagre percentage of disbursement of the mineral royalty to the communities by central government, the royalties were always in arrears depriving the beneficiary mining communities of development.
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