Our ancestors gave out mining concessions for almost nothing; we are still practicing it – Oteng Gyasi

Former President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Dr. Tony Oteng-Gyasi, has expressed worry about the continuous handover of mining concessions by Ghanaians to foreigners for pittance.

According to him, it is unfortunate the ancestors led foreigners to the wealthy mining concessions and handed it over to them for almost nothing.

Speaking at a University of Ghana Alumni programme, Dr. Oteng-Gyasi, said the mining of the country’s precious metals by foreigners who take away the major share of the wealth generated must stop.

He argued that this will be one of the major ways for the country to benefit significantly from its mineral resources.

“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”.

“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 pointed out.

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

Dr. Oteng Gyasi again was unhappy the Mining and Mineral Law still mandate 10% free shareholding by the state in every mining, describing it as peanut.

“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.

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