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0 NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, News Ghana, https://www.newsghana.com.gh/analyst-defends-eps-right-to-sell-damang-gold/A natural resources governance analyst has argued that Engineers and Planners Limited has legal grounds to sell gold from the Damang Mine even before Parliament ratifies the company’s mineral right.
Dr. Steve Manteaw, a former chairman of Ghana’s Public Interest and Accountability Committee, made the argument in a written commentary responding to questions raised by policy analyst Bright Simons on social media. Simons had argued that because Engineers and Planners Limited (E&P) and its subsidiary Damang Gold Mine Limited (DGML) had not yet had their mineral right ratified by Parliament, they had no right to sell gold from the concession, adding that even stockpiles left by Gold Fields would belong to the state, not to E&P.
Dr. Manteaw acknowledged the legitimacy of the questions but said the responses must be understood within an established historical and legal context.
“Let not the impression be created that the black man is his own enemy,” Dr. Manteaw said.
His central legal argument is grounded in Section 13 of the Minerals and Mining Act (Act 703), which sets out the procedure for granting a mineral right. He argued that once the Minerals Commission recommends an application, the minister notifies the applicant, the applicant accepts the offer and the minister formally grants the mineral right, the holder is entitled by law to enter the land. He stated that every step in that process had been followed in the Damang case and that documents exist to prove it. E&P and DGML’s presence on the concession is therefore, in his view, legally grounded.
He also addressed the parliamentary ratification question directly, noting that neither the 1992 Constitution nor Act 703 specifies a timeframe within which parliamentary ratification must be obtained after a mineral right is granted, and that no obligation is placed on the company itself to obtain ratification. The responsibility, he argued, rests with the executive and Parliament. This gap, he said, allowed many large-scale mining companies to operate for years and in some cases more than a decade without ratified leases, selling gold overseas throughout, without any legal challenge being successfully mounted against them.
He pointed to a 2019 case in which two members of parliament filed a suit against the Attorney General and 35 mining companies for operating without ratified leases in breach of Article 268 of the 1992 Constitution. The outcome, he said, was that Parliament simply moved to ratify the leases rather than impose sanctions or seek refunds of gold sale proceeds. He argued that if that precedent was set for multinational companies, applying a different standard to an indigenous Ghanaian firm would be inconsistent and inequitable.
On the question of the gold revenues themselves, Dr. Manteaw said he did not believe the government’s share had been compromised. He noted that revenues had been retained in Ghana to allow a thorough reconciliation of accounts once Parliament ratifies the mineral right and confirms what percentage should flow to the state. He added that Ghana’s Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI) would monitor this as part of its annual reporting. He also confirmed that E&P and DGML had paid all worker salaries and operational costs associated with the mine since April 18, 2026, including payments made before the first gold was sold.
Dr. Manteaw closed with three policy recommendations: that government amend Act 703 to impose a specific timeframe for parliamentary ratification of mineral rights; that bureaucratic delays that push companies to begin operating ahead of ratification be eliminated; and that where strict enforcement of the law causes delays resulting in revenue loss, compensation mechanisms be established.
NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, News Ghana, https://www.newsghana.com.gh/analyst-defends-eps-right-to-sell-damang-gold/
