Lithium deal puts Ghana on ‘cyclical malaria’ of IMF dependence – Sophia Akuffo

Former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, has reiterated her stance on the Ghana-Barari DV Limited deal, arguing that the country will forever be entangled with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if it continues to sign similar agreements on other natural minerals.

She bemoaned the country’s penchant for loans from the IMF since independence, despite its natural resources.

In an interview on the Point of View on Citi TV, the former Chief Justice, said, “Gold, diamond, oil, bauxite, those are what we call traditional minerals; all these have been there. Since we became independent, we have been going to the IMF, borrowing, with all kinds of terms, and we ask ourselves why. There’s this adage that if you are doing the same thing, don’t expect different results. If this is how you are going to continue to exploit and extract your natural resources, don’t expect ever to be free of the IMF. It becomes like cyclical malaria.”

She called on the government to learn from other countries that are exploring Lithium.

“We should be exploring; each year we should be looking at similar situations in terms of resource availability, resource finding, and what they are doing. That is what we are saying. We don’t have to go back into the royalties,” she opined.

Her Ladyship further suggested that Ghana should ‘leverage on the money market.

She charged the various appointees to do their homework well in order to make proper recommendations to the state.

“There are so many variations, modules, which somebody should do their homework to be able to be in a position to recommend a number that will suit Ghana. With all the figures and all that. Simply ask yourself the question, is this formulation of an agreement for the exploitation of our national worth, as good as it could ever possibly be?” the former chief justice asked.

The Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, signed an agreement in November with an Australian company to mine Lithium in the Central Region.

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