BY VALENTIA TETTEH
The Minority in Parliament has rejected the revised lithium agreement laid before Parliament by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, who doubles as the Acting Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, describing it as inimical to Ghana’s national interest.
According to the caucus, the company involved in the deal, Barari DV Ghana Limited, was prepared to proceed with a 10 percent royalty arrangement, contrary to the 5 percent effective benefit presented by the government under the revised framework.
Addressing the media in Parliament on Friday, December 19, the Ranking Member on the Lands and Natural Resources Committee, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, said the agreement weakens public confidence in Ghana’s mineral resource governance and sets a poor precedent for future green mineral negotiations.
He explained that when the original Barari DV agreement was negotiated in October 2023, global lithium prices stood at about US$2,250 per tonne, and even when prices later dropped to around US$800 per tonne, the company remained willing to proceed under a 10 percent royalty regime.
Mr. Ampratwum-Sarpong argued that the justification for reducing Ghana’s effective benefit to 5 percent is therefore untenable, particularly as lithium prices have since recovered to about US$1,200 per tonne.
“Despite the sharp decline in global prices at the time, Barari DV was still prepared to proceed with a 10 percent arrangement. Today, with prices having recovered, the justification for weakening Ghana’s royalty position becomes even less defensible,” he stated.
The Minority further accused the government of policy inconsistency, noting that similar royalty arrangements were previously opposed when the party was in opposition but are now being defended in government using the same legal framework.
The caucus also questioned the transparency behind the Minerals and Mining Royalty Regulations, 2025, arguing that Parliament has not been provided with the data models, price assumptions, or revenue simulations used to justify the new variable royalty bands.
According to the Ranking Member, the failure to fully incorporate stakeholder inputs, including those from mining communities and civil society, undermines meaningful consultation and weakens accountability in the management of Ghana’s strategic mineral resources.
The Minority has called on the government to urgently renegotiate the lithium framework to secure better value for the state, warning that the terms agreed for lithium will set the benchmark for future critical mineral agreements.
