Seek experts advice on lithium agreement - Minority Leader to House of Chiefs

The Minority leader in Parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has asked the Central Regional House of Chiefs to engage experts to ensure their communities had a fair deal in the lithium mining agreement.

Addressing the Central Regional House of Chiefs meeting last Thursday, Dr Forson said it was important that the custodians of the land and the people had a fair deal in whatever agreement is reached eventually.

He said the Minority owed it a responsibility to educate the House of Chiefs further to the agreement to ensure that the chiefs and people, especially the youth had their fair share of the resource to improve their well-being and that of their communities.

He said while the agreement, as it stood, indicated that 4.5 per cent of explored lithium would go to the custodians of the land, the chiefs and people needed an expert to scrutinise the agreement to understand who the agreement recognises as custodians and owners of the land.

Mr Forson queried who according to the agreement the custodians of the land were.

He said such an agreement involving the exploration of natural resources needed two thirds of Parliament to approve, which would be at least 184 parliamentarians.

Concensus needed

The Minority Leader said that would require proper consensus without which the approval could not happen.

He charged the chiefs, particularly those on whose land the resource was situated to speak out on the agreement and ensure that the right thing was done.

He said the agreement was not valid until Parliament approved it, saying that the resource was the new gold and must be protected in the interest of the Ghanaian people.

Concerns

Dr Forson said while individuals, civil societies, government and political parties had all expressed their stances on the agreement, Parliament would have to approve first.

Unfortunately, he said, "we are hearing the company in question intends to start mining the resource before the agreement is considered by Parliament.

He stated that as a Minority in Parliament, they would insist that the agreement was laid before Parliament for the necessary scrutiny in the interest of the country.

The President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs, Odeefou Amoakwa Boadu said the House has had 74 judicial sittings and disposed of ten of the cases, leaving 46 others pending before it.

He said the goal of the House was to work to ensure that the region was the most progressive in the country, saying that the House sought to achieve this on the three pillars of peace, safety and development.

He said the house was planning to celebrate the "Afahye kese" to coincide with the black history month in America to promote tourism.

Regional minister

The Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold Assan, in a speech read on her behalf, said the RCC was monitoring the ongoing public discourse about the content of the Lithium agreement initiated by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and would update the House accordingly.  

Mrs Assan commended the Central Regional House of Chiefs for taking prudent steps through the Asomdwee Project to resolve most of the protracted chieftaincy disputes in this Region.