Failure of six mining companies to pay government dividends cost Ghana close to $15 million in 2018

Tracking government revenue

iWatch Africa investigation has revealed that failure of some six mining companies to pay dividends due Ghana deprived the nation of potential revenue amounting to $14,148,373 as at October 2018.

The government of Ghana under Section 43 of the Minerals and Mining Act of 2006, Act 732, has 10% Carried Interest in all mining companies registered under the Companies Act of 1963. These companies are required to submit on annual basis, their returns to the Registrar General’s Department and the Minerals Commission as well as conduct annual self-assessment and submit same to Ghana Revenue Authority for tax purposes.

iWatch Africa’s review of the financial statements of these mining companies: Chirano, Adamus, Gold Fields Abosso, Persus Mining, Ghana Manganese and Ghana Bauxite revealed that although in certain instances declared profits, they failed to transfer dividend attributable to the government.

Further checks by iWatch Africa at the Auditor General’s office also showed that these companies failed to obtain the needed prior approval from the Ministry of Finance for the plough back of the profit.

The Auditor General, Mr. Daniel Yaw Domelevo in his 2018 report revealed the absence of government representation on the boards of these mining companies, despite government ownership of 10 percent carried interest.  According to the Auditor General, this “inhibits oversight functions and possible cause for cost manipulation by the mining companies.”

Another concern noted by iWatch Africa when reviewing the financial statements of these companies was the staggering losses recorded by almost all the companies between 2013 to 2016.

The Auditor General has cited the possibility of “inflation of expenditures through transfer pricing manipulations,” as reasons for these losses, and blamed the Ghana Revenue Authority for their weak oversight responsibilities.

Read Also: Ghana loses $18.9M as economic costs of violence against women

The table below shows the profit/loss after tax (PAT), dividends declared and potential revenue due the state between 2013 and 2016.

(Source: Auditor General’s 2018 report).

(Source: Auditor General’s 2018 report).
(Source: Auditor General’s 2018 report).

Report by Gideon Sarpong | iWatch Africa |

Show More

Gideon Sarpong

Gideon Sarpong is a policy analyst and media practitioner with close to a decade of experience in policy, data and investigative journalism. Gideon is a co-founder of iWatch Africa. He is an author; a fellow of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), Thomson Reuters Foundation, Commonwealth Youth Program ,Free Press Unlimited and Bloomberg Data for Health Initiative. Gideon is the founder of Sustainable Ocean Alliance Ghana. He was a 2021 Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute, School of Trans-national Governance in Florence, Italy and 2020/21 Open Internet For Democracy Leader. Gideon was also a 2022 Visiting Scholar/Reuters Fellow at the University of Oxford, UK and was selected as a 2022 TRF/Trust Conference Changemaker. He is currently the Africa Regional Cordinator for Environmental Justice Foundation and a 2023 Pulitzer ORN Fellow. Email: gideonsarpong@iwatchafrica.org.
Back to top button
.widget-title .the-subtitle { color: #000 !important; }