Evans Bobbie
The Brong Ahafo Deputy Regional Minister, Evans Bobbie, says traditional authorities have not used mineral royalties to benefit communities due to lack of regulations and monitoring.
He, therefore, called for the mandate of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) to be widened to cover mineral royalties in order to promote transparency and accountability in the utilization of such funds.
Speaking with PIAC members during a working visit, the Deputy Minister, who doubles as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asunafo North Constituency, stated that traditional authorities’ share of mineral revenue is expected to finance developmental projects in the communities.
According to him, while district assemblies are using their share of mineral royalties to finance recurrent expenditure, those accruing to stools and traditional authorities are often used to the neglect of development.
Act 794 puts the rate application at five per cent of gross revenue of mineral and 10 per cent is paid to the Administrator of Stool Lands who also retains 1 per cent of the amount as administrative charges.
Fifty-five per cent of the royalty is paid to the relevant district assembly, while 25 per cent goes to the Stool and 20 per cent to the traditional authorities.
The Brong Ahafo Deputy Regional Minister stressed the need for disclosure and transparency in the receipt and utilization of mineral royalties, without neglecting the involvement of community members in determining priority projects for funding, using mineral revenues.
Chairman of the committee, Dr Steve Manteaw, praised the MP for his insightful and thought-provoking statement, adding that PIAC looks forward to such mandate to ensure that communities benefit directly from mineral deposits in their areas.
He took time to explain the work of the committee which he said included promoting greater transparency and accountability of oil revenue – one quarter of it goes to the funding of Free SHS programme.
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Sunyani