The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr. Ing. Ken Ashigbey, has called on the government to consider replicating the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) model in the management of mining revenues for transparent and controlled utilisation of mining revenues.
Speaking to Channel One News in Sekondi-Takoradi on Friday, June 13, after a meeting with Western Regional Minister, Joseph Nelson and journalists, Dr. Ing. Ken Ashigbey explained that adopting the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) model in the mining sector would allow for greater public scrutiny and ensure that mineral revenues are used transparently for the public good.
“If you look at the contributions that gold has been making all of these years, they all go into the Consolidated Fund, and so you are not able to tell really where that is going. As we have done with Petroleum, we have the Petroleum Revenue Management Act currently in place.
“Same way, we should do that with our mineral resources. So that, as a country, we can say that this is what we want to do with our mineral revenues, and then you can look back at it and say that this is what it has done, and you’re able to have a hold on it,” he expanded.
Dr. Ing. Ashigbey cautioned that while a competent government today may ensure responsible use of resources, there is no guarantee of the same tomorrow—underscoring the need for a robust revenue model to establish clear, accountable utilisation mechanisms and assess the need for diversification.
“Today, you might have angels in power, who may decide that the resources must be put to good use, but tomorrow the devil will come, and you don’t know how it’s going to be done. Again, as a progressive people, you don’t spend these resources that are exhaustive on just recurrent expenditure.
“You have the examples of countries like the Arab Emirates. They started with oil, and what they have found out is that using the petroleum to diversify into other areas. It is the reason for us, if we put this law in place, it will then be able to help the country focus on how we use the revenues that is coming out of our mineral resources into other non-mineral resources areas that we would be able to have continuous and sustainable incomes coming in and people can look at it and say that this is where it came from“, he justified.
While noting that small-scale mining recorded a 70.1% year-on-year growth in gold output in 2024, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines urged the Ghana Gold Board (Goldbod) to fulfill its commitment to trace the actual sources of this output. He warned that failure to do so could tarnish Ghana’s reputation by associating it with illicit gold trade and hinder the country’s ability to sell or declare its gold on credible global markets.
Dr. Ing. Ken Ashigbey, during a courtesy call on Western Regional Minister Joseph Nelson, expressed appreciation for the Minister’s commitment to collaborate with the Chamber of Mines in promoting responsible mining and tackling illegal mining in the region.
He also encouraged journalists to boldly raise critical questions and hold stakeholders accountable to support the sustainable growth of the mining sector.