Paramount Chief of Lower Dixcove advocates making CSR mandatory for extractive companies

 The Paramount Chief of Lower Dixcove, Nana Kwesi Agyeman IX, has called for the enactment of legislation that would make Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandatory for companies operating in the extractive industry.

The Paramount Chief emphasized that it is long overdue for the nation to pass laws compelling extractive firms to reinvest in the communities in which they operate.

According to him, the voluntary nature of CSR in Ghana has given many companies the leeway to neglect the pressing needs of their host communities.

“The absence of a binding CSR framework has allowed many extractive companies to turn a blind eye to the social and infrastructural challenges facing the very communities from which they profit,” he stated.

He noted that despite the wealth generated from their operations, many resource-rich communities continue to suffer from underdevelopment, inadequate healthcare, poor roads, and limited educational infrastructure.

“Our roads are in bad shape, we don’t have accommodations for teachers and nurses so whenever they are posted here, they leave. Yet we cannot get any support from these companies to assist in solving some of these plights, yet their operations sometimes affect us,” he said.

Currently, Ghana does not have national legislation that mandates CSR initiatives for companies, including those in the oil, gas, and mining sectors.

This legal vacuum, the Nana Kwesi Agyeman IX observed, makes it difficult to hold companies accountable or track the impact of their CSR activities.

“You ask for their CSR plan and these companies will direct you to the ministries. We also want to see what you have been doing and what you intend to do so we can track them… But always the report is sent to Accra and they are kept in shelf’s,” he bemoaned.

He therefore urged policymakers and relevant state agencies to consider passing a comprehensive CSR law tailored to the extractive industry.

Such legislation, he said, would not only ensure equitable development but also foster greater corporate accountability and transparency in resource management.

The post Paramount Chief of Lower Dixcove advocates making CSR mandatory for extractive companies first appeared on 3News.

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