The Minority Caucus in Parliament on Friday criticised the Minerals Commission over what it describes as alleged serious deficiencies in six mining lease agreements approved by the House.

At a press conference in Parliament House, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, the Ranking Member on the Lands and Natural Resources Committee of Parliament, accused the Commission of allegedly failing to exercise adequate due diligence before submitting the documents for ratification.

He said, “The agreements contain significant inconsistencies and legal defects that should have been identified and corrected before they were presented to Parliament.”

Among the agreements approved on Thursday, July 31, was the mining lease for Damang Gold Limited, which is currently managed by Engineers and Planners.

Mr Ampratwum-Sarpong, also the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Mampong, argued that Parliament should have subjected the agreements to more rigorous scrutiny instead of proceeding with what he described as a rushed ratification process.

“Parliament cannot compromise the national interest by approving defective mining leases involving Ghana’s mineral wealth without the level of scrutiny that the Constitution demands. It appears the Minerals Commission did a shoddy job and exercised poor diligence in ensuring that the lease documents were in proper conformity with the law and standard operating procedures,” he stated.

He claimed that some of the companies failed to attach their mining operation programs, depriving Parliament of critical information needed to assess how the country’s mineral resources would be developed, managed, and monitored throughout the duration of the leases.

“Perhaps, more troubling was the omission in several leases of the Republic of Ghana’s statutory 10 per cent free carried interest. That interest belongs to the people of Ghana. It is neither optional nor discretionary and cannot simply be omitted from mining agreements placed before Parliament for ratification,” Mr Ampratwum-Sarpong said.

The Minority has therefore called for a review of the approval process to ensure that future mining agreements protected the long-term interests of the state and conformed fully with legal and regulatory requirements.