- Regional Conference, September 2012

Na Chairman, your Excellency the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana,distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I represent a coalition, whose membership at present includes organized groupsand NGOs working on mining, oil and gas, forestry, public sector accountability,policy advocacy, and environmental issues. These include: the Integrated SocialDevelopment Centre (ISODEC), Friends of the Nation, Centre for Public InterestLaw, Public Agenda, the Trades Union Congress of Ghana, the National CatholicSecretariat, League of Environmental Journalists, NEWENERGY, and WACAM.

Mr. Chairman
Colleague Ministers
Honourable Members of Parliament,
Members of the Ghana EITI National Steering Committee
Friends of the Media
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

1. It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to this all important breakfast meeting on the Ghana EITI Draft Bill. As a government and in line with the NDC party manifesto, the principles of EITI support our
efforts to promote good and accountable governance in our natural resource sectors.

Government has affirmed that it would work effectively with Civil Society Organizations and other stakeholders in the mining sector for the realization of the transformative perspective of the Africa Mining Vision (AMV). The AMV is a pathway agreed by African nations that put the continent’s long term and broad development objectives at the heart of all policy-making concerned with mineral extraction. It sets out how mining can be used to drive continental development. It was adopted by Heads of States and Governments at February 2009 African Union (AU) Summit following the October 2008 meeting of African ministers responsible for Mineral Resources Development.

The Ghana Chamber of Mines, an association of mining companies, has launched an eyebrow-raising report, claiming that "On average 9.2% of a mining entity's revenue is paid to Government in taxes and contributions borne."  What the report means is that individual mining companies operating in Ghana paid $9.20 of every $100 (or GHC18 out of every GHC196) of their revenue to government in the form of taxes and other contributions in 2009 and 2010. Government in the form of taxes and other contributions in 2009 and 2010.

The GHEITI Secretariat is organizing the Second Sensitisation Workshop for Communities in the Oil and Gas Catchment Area from 5th -7th July, 2012 in Axim at the Axim Beach Hotel, Western Region. 

The workshops will provide an opportunity to extensively engage communities within the catchment areas in the Nzema East and the Ellembelle districts of the Western Region on the principles of EITI, the relevance of Ghana EITI in promoting accountable governance and role of communities, and on the GHEITI Oil/Gas Reporting Templates. The workshop will create the necessary EITI awareness in the communities in preparation for future engagements with the 2010-2011 GHEITI Audit Reports which are expected later this year.

Mr. Chairman
Nananom,
Honourable Assembly Members,
Members of the GHEITI NSC,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.

Good morning and Welcome to this morning sensitization workshop on the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in Ghana. We are in Jomoro today not only because it is in the Western Region where the bulk of our natural resources are found and produced, but because you are in the catchment area of where our new natural resources, namely oil and gas is found.

The Ghana EITI in collaboration with the Chamber of Mines wishes to organize mines study tour for members of the Ghana National Steering Committee and EITI sensitization workshop for faculty members and students of the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa (UMaT).

The Ghana EITI Secretariat in collaboration with Revenue Watch Institute wish to invite you to a two-day capacity building workshop on petroleum revenue management and EITI reporting templates for members of Ghana EITI multi-stakeholder group/Secretariat.

Ms Sherry Ayittey, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, has commended the Aboso Goldfields Limited (AGL), Damang in the Western Region, for honouring its corporate social responsibility. This follows a working visit to Damang on Friday during which she assessed the company's operations and projects for the community.

By Frederick Asiamah

Ghana is set to produce its first report on payments of taxes by oil companies to government under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) this year. Mr. M. Bashiru Abdul-Razak of the Ghana EM (GHEITI) Secretariat, who disclosed the information at a meeting in Accra, also hinted Public Agenda that managers of the process anticipate that the aggregator (consultant" would complete his work by August, allowing for the launch or the report before the close of 2012.