3 ElectroChem mining leases need no review
Parliament has recommended that there is no legal basis which will warrant tinkering with the three mining leases of the biggest wholly owned Ghanaian salt mining company, ElectroChem Ghana Limited (EGL), which was ratified by the House on November 6, 2020.
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The House, however, said the company should consider continuing with the allocation of some space to local miners within the concession area, in an arrangement that was mutually beneficial to the company and the indigenes to promote local participation in salt mining.
Besides, Parliament recommended that mining by the local people should be undertaken in accordance with the environmental laws and practices as sanctioned by the Minerals Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“ElectroChem Ghana Limited should assist the indigenes in the deployment of best salt mining practices in order not to devalue the concession area and lower production,” it said.
Adoption of report
The House made the recommendations soon after the members had adopted the report of the Select Committees on Mines and Energy as well as Lands and Forestry on the ratification of the three mining leases in respect of the Ada Songor salt mining project by EGL.
On November 6, 2020, Parliament ratified the three mining lease agreements, in accordance with Article 268 (11) of the Constitution, which validated the salt mining undertaken by EGL in the Ada Songor Lagoon for 15 years.
Since then, the company has commenced commercial activities in the salt lagoon, having invested $88 million in the first phase of the 41,000-acre first-rate salt in the lagoon.
Tension
However, on Thursday, October 9, 2023, the National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament (MP) for Sege, Christian Otuteye, made a statement on the floor of Parliament to draw the House’s attention to a clash between small-scale salt miners along the Songor Lagoon enclave and officials of EGL, which resulted in the death of a small-scale miner, known as Numo Korletey Agormedah, who died from gunshot wounds.
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The MP, therefore, demanded a police investigation of the incident.
Consequently, the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, referred the matter to the Joint Committees on Mines and Energy as well as the Lands and Forestry to interrogate the issues and report to the House.
The committee was tasked to review the contracts ratified by Parliament on November 6, 2020, visit the Songor Lagoon and advise the House on the possibility of renegotiating the contract and leaving out some portions for the indigenes to continue their small-scale mining operations.
To accomplish its task, the committees invited stakeholders and interested parties to deliver written submissions to it for interrogation, including the conduct of public hearings.
Some of the invitees were officials from EGL, Third World Network - Africa, Dangme East Salt Producers Association (DESPA), Ada Songor Lagoon Association (ASLA), Tekperbiawe Divisional Queen Mother, Naana Korleki Korley I, and the NDC MP for Ada, Comfort Doyoo Cudjoe.
Stakeholder engagement
Per the report, as presented by the then Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee, Samuel Atta Akyea, who moved the motion for its adoption, a continuous stakeholder engagement was necessary to persuade those who were fighting the rollout of a national resource under the mistaken belief that the indigenes owned the salt.
“It is imperative that the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) embarks on a massive educational campaign in the salt mining area to bring indigenes to the realisation that salt is a natural mineral and not a local means of livelihood in the same category of gold in the Ashanti Region, petroleum in the Western Region and bauxite in the Eastern Region,” the report said.
The committees also recommended that the MPs on the joint committee should organise local education tours and durbars to further achieve peace among all parties.
“There should be a serious security engagement in the communities for them to come to terms with the fact that it is in the best interests of Ghana and the local communities to desist from any form of lawlessness to pave the way for a national undertaking with export benefits to function at full throttle.
“Parliament and NCCE should be the arrow heads in this regard,” the committees said, and called for the indigenes to be educated by their chiefs, stakeholders and the police that Ghana had a stake in ElectroChem Ghana Limited and its salt mining business in Ada Songor, and that any acts of lawlessness against the company is a direct confrontation with law enforcement agencies in Ghana,” it said.
Investigate death
The committees also recommended that the police should continue with the investigation of the death of Numo Korletey Agormedah who was allegedly killed on November 6, 2023 and prosecute the perpetrator(s) of the said crime.
“All minor criminal complaints associated with the salt mining business which can be resolved between the complainants and the culprits to tone down tension in the salt producing environment, the chiefs should take up such peaceful initiatives,” it said.
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It added that any survey challenge relating to the extent of the concession should be brought to the attention of the Minerals Commission for investigations.
The report also urged ElectroChem to enlarge its social intervention activities as their fortunes improved to mitigate poverty in the communities.
The committee said the company, in the rollout of such immensely significant national project, should not desecrate cemeteries, fetish houses and such other sacred places within the concession area.
Ahead of the adoption of the committee’s report, members of the House took entrenched diverse positions on the issue.
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This compelled the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, to intervene and directed the joint committees to revisit the matters to resolve all outstanding differences.
He expressed the belief that doing so would ensure a more comprehensive and fair resolution of the impasse.
Cedes portion
A fortnight ago, ElectroChem launched its Community Outgrowers Scheme in a significant step towards promoting inclusiveness and addressing illegal salt mining challenges.
The company allocated 1,000 acres of its concession in the Songor Lagoon to community members, enabling them to mine salt and sell their produce to the company.
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The scheme includes training for participants in responsible mining and provides technical support from EGL.
ElectroChem Ghana Ltd, a subsidiary of the McDan Group of Companies which is responsible for the Ada Songhor Salt project, also pledged to assist the outgrower mines with brine to produce salt and sell to the company.