Renegotiate lithium deal with Barari DV – CPP Chairperson tells Govt

The chairperson and leader of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Nana Akosua Frimpomaa Sarpong Kumankuma, has charged the government to renegotiate the lithium mining agreement with Barari DV Ghana Ltd.

Madam Kumankuma Sarpong said this on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, when IMANI Ghana, a policy think tank, released research work carried out in the energy sector, which suggested that the country, after finding lithium in the country, has decided to lease the mineral to a foreign investor in a 50-50 proportion.

According to her, the CPP would have withdrawn from the deal if the party was in government, considering the insignificant benefit the country stands to gain from it.

Madam Kumankuma Sarpong asserted that the mineral should have been valued in its finished state, adding that Ghana has come of age since she gained independence to be able to make her own decisions.

She demanded that the government renegotiate the deal in the interest of its citizens, who are suffering from various forms of hardship.

“I think that what I have been told today clearly shows that most of the minerals that have been given out on a contract basis need to be renegotiated. That is my opinion as leader of the Convention People’s Party, and I believe that the Whiteman is in the country mainly because of the country’s raw materials, and therefore, at any point we sit down on the negotiating table, we ought to do so in such a manner that it will benefit every well-meaning Ghanaian.”

Nana Akosua Frimpomaa Sarpong Kumankuma contended that before a mineral, in particular lithium, is leased out to foreigners to mine, the government should be able to determine the quantity of lithium underground.

Having assessed the quantity of lithium, she urged the government to determine the share the country will secure in the deal and that if the share is too low, the government must withdraw from the agreed plan and consider other potential uses of the mineral rather than rushing to give it out at an insignificant value.

“Because it’s been ages since we obtained independence from our colonial era, everybody is struggling to find something to do and eat. Meanwhile, our lithium, our bauxite, our gold, and our every blessing is gone, so what is the point in wanting to lease the recently found mineral at a cheap price to further worsen the plight of ordinary Ghanaians? If we don’t understand that lithium is what will be used for battery production, which will fuel the use of electric vehicles and car battery production, then we ought to value the mineral by its end product and not sell it in its raw state,” she said.

She praised IMANI Ghana for conducting the survey, urging the government to deepen its partnership with organisations like IMANI to conduct more research on how the country can add more value to its mineral resources.

Madam Kumankuma Sarpong also tasked the government to rope in Ghanaian youth into specialised training and development to provide them with the needed skills and technical know-how for local exploitation and value addition to the country’s mineral resources.

“I really believe that today’s event is really crucial and important, especially for these technocrats and experts in specific areas who spend time doing research on things that you and I have no knowledge about. I believe that it is the government that has to provide the funding for such projects. Before you would want to take any decision in life, one will need to first have knowledge and know something about the said thing, so if it is lithium that has been found in your homeland, you will have to know the quantity of the mineral in the ground or what other thing the mineral can be used for instead of selling it out in its raw state,” she clarified.

She also made an analogy between building in a village and building at strategic locations like East Legon. According to her reasoning, any landowner would want to build in the city at a strategic location where they could rent it out for a high price. For this reason, she believes that lithium shouldn’t be sold in its raw form; instead, its value should be determined by the process by which the mineral is transformed into a finished good.

Following its commercial discovery at Ewoyaa in the Central region and the announcement of the first lithium mining lease with Barari DV Ghana Limited (a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium Limited), a variety of viewpoints on the arrangement have surfaced.

The discussions have focused on potential benefits for the country, concerns about perceived colonialism, and economic disadvantages associated with the deal.