The Minority Caucus on Parliament’s Lands and Natural Resources Committee is accusing the government of undermining Ghana’s national interest in its newly revised lithium mining lease with Barari DV Ghana Limited.
Central to their criticism is the decision to reduce the royalty rate from 10 percent, secured in the 2023 agreement under former President Nana Akufo-Addo, to the statutory minimum of 5 percent. The Minority says this reversal weakens Ghana’s position in a resource they describe as strategically vital.
The 2023 lease was marketed as a major improvement, featuring a 10% royalty rate, 13% state free carried interest, additional Ghanaian participation through MIIF and the Ghana Stock Exchange, a community development fund, and commitments to value addition.
Although the then opposition NDC said the 10% rate could have been higher, it still insisted that the law allowed room for increased royalties when market conditions improved.
The Minority now argues that the current administration has abandoned that stance. “Today, when given the opportunity to negotiate properly, the Government has reduced the royalty rate from 10% to 5%,” the Caucus said in a statement, questioning what had changed since its earlier position.
Lands Minister Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah has defended the revised terms citing global lithium price trends, but the Minority maintains that price volatility had already been considered under the previous rate and did not justify a downward revision.
They further reject claims that a 10% royalty was unlawful, pointing to earlier agreements in which governments negotiated above or below statutory rates. They also cite clause 20(a) of the revised lease, which allows royalty levels to be set either by law or by agreement between the parties.
Beyond the royalty rate, the Minority accuses the government of reversing positions it held in opposition on value addition, mining model reforms and control of the lithium value chain.
