Joy News File

Angela List, who has been there for over ten years, has done a good job, and then she gets a problem like this.

Why am I saying all that I'm saying? See, [phone alert] we will be judged by what we leave behind, not the excuses we give.

So President Mahama should leave a legacy that says that, "When I came into government, there was no Ghanaian in major mining.

But as I leave, we have Ghanaians holding gold fields, holding diamond, uh, holding, you know, Konongo and Ko-- and Angela's." So I am grateful because I think, like I said, uh, I, I made a post yesterday that one of the blessings of Ghana today is President Mahama.

If you don't like it, I say so.

It is true, because he's handling this with the experience that you need.

And this is the stuff that we need for our leaders to build.

What was happening was somebody using the powers of regulation and what other powers they had.

But essentially, they were breaking down, tearing down, okay, destroying something that a Ghanaian had built.

I think our governments must be helping.

And to that extent, I want to say thank you to President Mahama.

Thank you to, uh, uh, uh, Ama Kofi Boakye.

And I speak like I'm an official of, uh, Adamus.

[laughs]

I am on their case because-

Mm

... as far as I'm concerned, they have not fought hard enough.

I have been told why.

But at the end of the day, I hope they take the opportunity they have been given.

Make sure that you answer all the questions that are being asked satisfactorily, and make sure you do the things that are being suggested.

Infuse more money, better management, and have a good mine that we Ghanaians can be proud of.

So this is the right way.

So Kofi, why wasn't this-

We have 12 months

... why wasn't this the first approach rather than the approach that's revoking their leases and leading to all the brouhaha that followed it?

Mm-hmm.

And we're told about, you know, the breaches that-

Mm-hmm

...

they allegedly had committed, and according to the minister or it-- his committee, what they found was just the tip of the iceberg.

That was a mistake, and that is what made my blood boil.

I keep telling people I've never met Angela List, okay? I was like, "How do you revoke somebody's mine they've run?" And by my calculation, in that mine alone, there was about $200 million invested.

In a matter of one week, okay? And like I'm saying, your job as government is not to destroy.

Even if you have regulatory powers, you use it to help.

And the law says give them time to, you know, fix the problems or whatever it is.

And I make the point which I will never depart from, that when the person is a Ghanaian, bend backwards to help them.

Let me tell you something.

I have found through my interaction that the average Ghanaian-- And I was telling you, Ejapa, that when the businesses were being collapsed, Ghanaians were supporting it.

Mm-hmm.

Today, it has turned.

I almost didn't find anybody who felt that no matter what the people had done, they should be, you know, their, their license should be revoked.

Ghanaians, average Ghanaians are very, very, very, very upset when a Ghanaian business is collapsing.

That thing should be clear.

So see, that earlier approach was a mistake, and President Mahama has corrected it.

Look, if that mine had gone down, you'd have heard of it in the next election.

And if this mine is sustained and remains, it will become a legacy that President Mahama can forever claim.

It's a-

So those mistakes we should not-

It's a one-year lease of life they have, an extension-

Mm-hmm

... they've been given, but they are not in control anymore.

Oh, not really.

I mean, it's a one-year lease.

One year is a good time to answer the questions.

You may not solve everything, but you can put yourself on the road to health, all right? And again, see, it's a failure of the government in power if major Ghanaian businesses collapse.

So no matter what this person is doing, I'm not saying that they should be allowed to commit crimes and do whatever they want.

If they are owing royalties in excess of 86 million, you know, Ghana cedis-

Mm

...

if they are owing taxes-

Mm-hmm

... to the revenue in, in excess of, in, in hundreds.

That is one side of the story.

I can tell you also in what I found out.

There were thir-- VAT owes them a certain amount of money in, for instance, VAT returns.

So see-- And, and by the way, if anybody is owing money, it's not a crime.

You sit down, you schedule it.

The person is mining gold, all right? And the gold mine can't run away.

So I was saying, a failure of a major business is a failure of the government.

Okay.

So they should help them set up.

And by the way, if push comes to shove and nothing can be done about it, you don't collapse the mine.

Okay.

You can change ownership.

Let the mine continue.

Mm.

Another Ghanaian can take over, find a way to pay off.

Leadership can go, ownership can go, equity can come in.

The workers can continue to work.

The mine can continue to operate, but it will remain a Ghanaian mine.

I will close with this.

The success of this mine will be a feather in the cap of this government.

The failure of this mine will be against the legacy of President Mahama and this government.

So they've done a good thing.

I hope the mine, the government, and whoever is involved should deploy all the powers available to them to make this stand.

And to that extent, every other mine that a Ghanaian is managing, we should help them to stand.