Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has restated her position on the Ghana-Barari DV Limited agreement, asserting that the nation will be perpetually linked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if it persists in entering into comparable deals for other natural resources.
She expressed concern about the country’s inclination to seek loans from the IMF since gaining independence, despite possessing abundant natural resources.
In an interview, the former Chief Justice said, “Gold, diamond, oil, bauxite—those are what we call traditional minerals; all these have been there. Since we became independent, we have been going to the IMF, borrowing with all kinds of terms, and we ask ourselves why. There’s this adage that if you are doing the same thing, don’t expect different results. If this is how you are going to continue to exploit and extract your natural resources, don’t expect to ever be free of the IMF. It becomes like cyclical malaria.”
She urged the government to take lessons from other nations currently delving into the exploration of lithium.
“We should be exploring; each year we should be looking at similar situations in terms of resource availability, resource finding, and what they are doing. That is what we are saying. We don’t have to go back into the royalties,” she asserted
Additionally, Her Ladyship proposed that Ghana should capitalize on the financial market. She encouraged the appointed officials to thoroughly research and provide well-founded recommendations to the state, saying, “There are so many variations and modules, and somebody should do their homework to be able to be in a position to recommend a number that will suit Ghana.”
“With all the figures and all that,. Simply ask yourself the question, Is this formulation of an agreement for the exploitation of our national worth as good as it could ever possibly be?” the former chief justice asked.
Ghana signed an agreement with Barari DV Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium Ltd., an Australian company, in November to mine lithium in the Central Region.
