The Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA) has announced its readiness to support the Government of Ghana to resist the contentious US$277 million claim by Australian mining company, Cassius Mining Limited.
NORPRA says the claims appear fishy and a deliberate attempt by the company to rip off Ghana an underserving judgment debt.
Cassius Mining Limited has sued Ghana at the London Court of International Arbitration for what they describe as a deliberate breach of contract after the Minister for Lands and Natural Resource refused to grant their request for an extension of their minerals prospecting license in January 2020.
The refusal was premised on the failure of the mining company to fully disclose the criminal records of some of their directors and shareholders who were ex-convicts at the time the company was registered in Ghana. The Minister, through the Minerals Commission, noted this was in breach of the Company’s Act and hence the refusal.
NORPRA played a very crucial role in uncovering the criminal backgrounds of these directors leading to the termination of their minerals prospecting license in Gbane in the Talensi District.
The Company said they had been treated unfairly and hence initiated a legal battle to seek redress. Although it lost its initial case at the High Court in Ghana, Cassius has escalated the case to the International Court of Arbitration demanding a compensation of US$277 million.
But NORPRA believes the recent development is an attempt by the company to scheme and manipulate the incoming government to pay what is described as unjustified claims.
The Executive Director of NORPRA, Bismark Adongo in an interview with The High Street Journal, insists that the action of the government was justified within the country’s laws since certain individuals behind Cassius Mining have questionable records, including prior convictions, which should have disqualified them from operating in Ghana.
“They are ex-convicts. You can even go and take the new companies out. It doesn’t allow an ex-convict to do business in Ghana,” he argued.
The sudden appearance of the company to lay claim at a time when there is an imminent change in government, Bismark Adongo alleges the possibility that the company may have links in the new government and hence taking advantage to rip off the state. “If they are going to lean on few individuals that they think they have influence in the government, to milk the new government of 200 or over 277 million dollars, they have no way,” he vowed.
NORPRA, the Executive Director declared is ready to support President Mahama and his government to fight off the claims. He says the CSO is ready to provide all the needed evidence to the president to enable him to save the country the millions claimed by the company.
“Now that NORPRA has seen this, we want to, we will alert the new government. They are just scheming and coming back to see whether they can let the Ghanaian government pay them this money they claim. Some of us are ready to appear before the government of Ghana, and adduce reasons why these people, in the first place, were not even qualified to be granted a license to do business in this country,” he declared.
As the new administration takes office, all eyes will be on how it navigates this high-stakes legal battle, which has significant implications for Ghana’s already strained finances, the mining sector, and its reputation as an investment destination.
