Former Chief Justice calls for constitutional review on extractive industry  

Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has called for a review of the 1992 Constitution to make it adequately tackle agreements on the extractive industry.  

She said when recent agreements made by the state are compared to those of other jurisdictions, Ghana is overly being exploited, hence the need for a re-look at the agreements.  

Madam Akuffo now serving on the Council of State, the advisory council to the President of Ghana, wondered why Ghana is still entering into contracts with extractive companies on its natural resources.  

That, she said ended Ghana up being “exploited”.  

In a recent media interview in Accra, the Council of State Member questioned the policy guiding the extraction of Ghana’s mineral resources and how the proceeds are apportioned between the state and foreign investors.  

She described the mineral concession agreements between Ghana and foreign investors as woefully unfavourable for the country.  

“Why are we still doing it like we are in the days of Guggisberg?” the former Chief Justice queried.  

Her call were parts of comments on critical areas the Council of State could be looking at aside from issues that would be presented to them by the President.  

She asked: “What should be our policy on our natural resources?  

“The things under our ground which we don’t seed or feed and which belongs to us totally but when it comes to making use of it, we position ourselves to be exploited.  

“I’m using that word very advisedly because when you read about systems and formulae used, some over ten years ago, in other jurisdictions, you keep asking yourself, ‘why are we still doing it like we are in the days of Governor Guggisberg?”  

She bemoaned the deplorable state of the mining communities where valuable resources are being explored without any or very little benefit for the residents.  

Madam Akuffo said: “You wonder, and you end up with really pathetic towns where a valuable mineral has been extracted for years, for decades, sometimes centuries and when you think of the amount of gold or diamond or whatever has been mined all those years and what it has done to the town.  

“You ask yourself what went wrong somewhere, why, and that’s something that needs to be seen to,” she reemphasised.  

Source: GNA  

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