Electrochem deadlock: Parliament defers Committee’s report for further consultation

By Edzorna Francis Mensah

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has deferred the question on the report by the joint committee on Mines and Energy, Lands and Forestry on the Songor Salt Mining commenced by Electrochem Ghana limited.

At the plenary for debate on Friday, July, 2024 NDC MPs including MPs from the Area kicked against the content of the report, accusing the committee for producing a report that favour the Electrochem largely.

Several MPs including the Minority Leader have spoken against the report and called on the Speaker not to adopt in its current form and sharp to avert trouble as they prayed for further consultations including the committees’ plans to visit the area to establish the facts.

In his ruling, Mr. Speaker deferred the report to Monday 31st July, 2024 for the final statement to be made on the report. He called for cool heads and asked MPs to drop individual interests and focus on the national interests as lawmakers with powers to settle long disputes that have existed between some of the state institutions, communities and individuals.

The committee co-chaired by Samuel Atta Kyea and Francis Manu-Adabor made a number of recommendations including the fact, Electrochem Ghana Limited must consider to continue with the allocation of some space to the local miners within the concession area in an arrangement that is mutually beneficial to the company and the indigenes to promote local participation in the salt mining industry.

The committee also reported “the necessity for a continuous stakeholder engagement to persuade those who are fighting the roll-out of a national resource under the mistaken belief that the indigenes owned the mineral called salt”.

The Committee further stated that it is imperative that the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) embarks upon a massive educational campaign in the Salt Mining Area to bring indigenes to the realization 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 also attempted to warn political pandits to desist from making political capital out of the use of national assets for the development of the nation Ghana rather than inciting indigenes to believe that they are being robbed by the Government of the day as said- “the Members of Parliament of this Joint Committee should organise local education tours and durbars to further achieve the object”.

“The local mining so permitted should be undertaken according to the environmental laws and practices as sanctioned by the Minerals Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency. 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.

Other recommendations are as follow:

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 arrowheads in this regard. The indigenous people should be educated by their chiefs. stakeholders and the police that the Nation Ghana has a stake in Electrochem Ghana Limited and its salt mining business in Ada Songhor and any acts of lawlessness against the Company is a direct confrontation with Law Enforcement Agencies in Ghana.

All national undertakings over the country including the gold mining business of Ashanti Goldfields are operational because of this basic understanding. The police should continue with the investigation of the death of Numo Korletey Agormedah who was allegedly killed on the 6th day of November 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. Any survey challenge relating to the extent of the concession should be brought to the attention of the Minerals Commission for investigation.

Electrochem Ghana Limited should enlarge their social intervention activities as their fortunes improve to bankroll poverty in the communities. Electrochem Ghana Limited in the roll-out of this immensely significant national project should desecrate cemeteries, fetish houses and places within the concession area.

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