The Government of Ghana has taken over the Great Consolidated Diamond Limited at Denkyembour District of the Eastern Region for breaching the concession agreement with the state.
The company will now be known and called Ghana Consolidated Diamond Limited (GCDL).
This came to light when the Acting Director-General of State Interest and Governance Authority, Stephen Asamoah Boateng and his entourage toured the company to have a first-hand information on activities there.
The Great Consolidated Diamonds Limited (GCD), formerly known as Ghana Consolidated Diamonds is Ghana’s only commercial diamond company. It owns the Akwatia Diamond mine, which has produced more than 100-million carats of diamonds since inception of commercial operations in 1924.
The mine was closed almost a decade ago when Sapper and Associates, who had won the rights to the mine, failed to inject the necessary funds.
This saw the government, which came into power in 2009, opening bids for the operations of Ghana Consolidated Diamonds. A Ghanaian owned company won the bid in 2011 ahead of international firms that had shown interest in the mine.
However, the Company after winning the bid failed to fulfill the contract obligations.
This prompted the current government to use the Mining Law Clause (13) which stipulated that when such a thing occurred, government should take back the company and manage it.
The Acting Director-General of State Interest and Governance Authority, Stephen Asamoah Boateng, interacted with the staff and the various mining associations where the staff raised concern over the challenges facing them and finally paid a courtesy call on the Akwatia Chief, Osabarima Kofi Boateng.
He appointed a nine-member Interim management committee to steer the affairs of the company. They took the oath of office and secrecy and charged them to do their work diligently to bring the company back to shape to benefit the people of Akwatia and the country at large.
He also appointed, Samuel Bonsu Attakorah, as the new Acting Managing Director.
