Posted
on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By
William Yaw Owusu
Thursday,
August 03, 2017
The troubles of
Ibrahim Mahama, brother of former President John Mahama, have deepened, as he
has been dragged to court a day after the Northern Regional Minister abrogated
a road contract awarded to him.
Firebrand Brong-Ahafo
Regional Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe aka
Abronye DC, has filed a suit against Mr Ibrahim Mahamar over the bauxite
concession granted to him a few days to the exit of his brother from power.
Ibrahim, who is
linked to Exton Cubic Group Limited, is to face Abronye at the Supreme Court
over the huge bauxite mining lease granted the firm for 21 and 18 years
respectively.
He is challenging the
legitimacy of the concessions.
The suit also cited
the Attorney General as respondent and Abronye wants the Supreme Court to declare
that the mining lease agreement between the then National Democratic Congress
(NDC) government and Exton Cubic Group Limited required parliamentary ratification
under Section 5 (4) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).
The NDC government,
acting through then Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Nii Osah Mills, on December
29, 2016, entered into and granted Exton Cubic Group Limited mining leases to
mine bauxite in different concessions for 21 and 18 years respectively.
Abronye wants an
order setting aside the mining lease agreements because they violate Section 5
(4) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).
Abronye is also seeking
a perpetual injunction restraining Exton Cubic Group Limited and its assigns
from prospecting, exploiting or mining bauxite in Ghana pursuant to the mining
lease agreements being ratified by parliament.
In his statement of
claim prepared in Sunyani, Abronye said he was bringing the action pursuant to
Articles 2 (1) (b) and 130 (1) of the 1992 Constitution and was invoking the
jurisdiction of the highest court for interpretation.
According to the
plaintiff, Exton Cubic Group Limited has started “mining/exploiting bauxite in
Nyinahini pursuant to the purported mining lease agreements.”
He averred, “the
plaintiff’s case is that the activities of the 2nd defendant (Exton
Cubic Group Limited) are illegal as same are against the Minerals and Mining
Act, 2006 (Act 703).”
According to
Abronye, he would argue in court that the power of the minister responsible for
mines to grant mining rights is governed by Section of Act 703, saying “What is
germane to the plaintiff’s case is Section 5 (4) of Act 703.
“The language of
Section 5 (4) of Act 703 is clear, plain and calls for no conflicting interpretations.
The plain and unmistakable import of the provision is that any contract that
involves the grant of a mining right for the exploitation of mineral in Ghana
is subject to ratification by parliament.”
He averred that “there
is a plethora of cases in which the Supreme Court has authoritatively held that
any transaction that requires parliamentary ratification is null and void and
creates no rights, unless it has been ratified by Parliament.
“It is in the interest
of the public that mining agreements are subjected to parliamentary approval
and ratification. Any mining agreement purportedly entered into without
parliamentary approval or ratification is null and void.”
He pointed out that
“the overall kernel of the plaintiff’s case is that the two impugned mining
agreements were entered into in violation of the express provisions of Section
5 (4) of Act 703 as same were not laid before parliament for approval and
ratification.”
There is no
indication that Exton Cubic Group Limited has been served with the processes of
the Supreme Court.
NDC minority leader,
Haruna Iddrisu, also believes that the concession granted to Ibrahim’s company
must be ratified by parliament.
No comments:
Post a Comment