Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has turned the debate over Ghana’s mining fiscal regime into a direct question of official loyalty, asking Ghanaians to scrutinise whether some public servants are advancing the country’s interests or those of foreign mining companies.
Speaking at the same Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) press briefing in Accra on Wednesday at which she criticised what she called contradictions in the government’s recent mining tax amendments, Justice Akuffo reserved her sharpest words for officials who she said are repeating arguments that originate with foreign extractive companies.
She said narratives designed to discourage developing countries from tightening fiscal terms on mining firms typically framed around investor flight and capital withdrawal have now found voices inside Ghana’s own institutions. “The arguments advanced by foreigners to scare us should not be expounded by our own officials in this way,” she said.
Her challenge was direct. “Whom do they serve? That’s the question every Ghanaian should ask. Whom do they serve? Do they serve us, the people of Ghana? Or do they serve outside interests?”
Justice Akuffo said the tension she is describing is not unique to Ghana. Resource-rich African countries have long struggled with how to attract foreign capital without surrendering a disproportionate share of value, and governments across the continent have often faced pressure both external and internal against firmer fiscal terms for mining companies. But she said the problem in Ghana is that the pressure has been internalised by people who hold public trust.
The former Chief Justice said communities living near Ghana’s mining zones experience the practical consequences of this dynamic every day, through poor roads, inadequate healthcare and environmental degradation, while the fiscal arrangements that are meant to generate state revenue for such services are diluted through concessions she believes serve investor interests over national ones.
She acknowledged that attracting foreign investment is a legitimate concern for any government, but said the framing of every fiscal tightening as an investor deterrent is itself a political choice, and one that should be interrogated rather than accepted.
The IEA has consistently argued that Ghana should move toward full state ownership of mineral resources, with private firms operating through service contracts rather than lease and royalty arrangements that it says cap national returns.
Neither the Ministry of Finance nor the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has publicly responded to the IEA’s position as of Thursday, March 26.
