Friday, 5 July 2013, 3:01 pm
Press Release: United Nations Human Rights Commissioner
Business & Human Rights: UN Expert Group Launches First Fact-finding Visit to Ghana

GENEVA (4 July 2013) – A United Nations group of independent experts on business and human rights will undertake an information-gathering visit to Ghana from 8 to 17 July 2013, to look at current initiatives, opportunities and challenges in implementing the UN Guiding Principles* on Business and Human Rights in the country.

Government will ensure prudent management and utilization of revenues from the natural resources to the benefit of the people, Mr. Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, Deputy Minister of Finance, has assured.

He said in an address read for him at a dissemination workshop on the Ghana Extractive Industries Initiative (GHEITI) 2010/2011 Oil and Gas and Mining Reports organized by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning at Axim on Thursday. Mr. Ricketts-Hagan said district assemblies in mining areas were expected to demonstrate fiscal accountability and transparency in all expenditure decisions, particularly those relating to the use of mineral royalties.

The mining sector paid GHc893.77 million in corporate tax to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in 2012. Dr Toni Aubynn, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, said the amount represented 36.98 percent of the total GRA tax collected within the period. Dr Aubynn said this during a media briefing on the activities of the chamber and mining companies in Sunyani.

An International Conference on Payment Disclosures in the Extractive Industries, yesterday, took place in Accra. About fifty participants from Ghana, Liberia, Mozambique, Europe and the United States of America attended the conference which was held on the theme: The Role of International Transparency Initiatives as Tools for Accountability in Africa’s Extractive Industries.

May 23-24, 2013

Hon. Chair
Distinguished Delegates

On behalf of the President of the Republic of Ghana, I wish to thank the EITI Chair and the Secretariat for extending an invitation to the President of the Republic of Ghana to participate in this important conference. Ghana is one of the pioneers of EITI implementation. The Government of Ghana committed itself and signed on to the initiative in 2003 and has since participated fully in all EITI activities both regionally and internationally. It is worth noting that Ghana is the first country to undertake the EITI in the mining sector and proactively extended it to the sub-national level and the oil and gas sector.

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) presented Gold Fields Ghana Limited with the best Tax Payer Award for 2012 at its annual awards ceremony in Accra this week.

The ceremony honoring Gold Fields Ghana was held at the State Banquet hall and it recognized corporate institutions for their significant contributions to government revenue in terms of taxes paid. In 2012, Gold Fields Ghana contributed a total of US$250 million to Government revenue. The GRA also honored the company’s staff that worked hard in the year.

UPDATED - The Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI) secretariat together with the EITI National Steering Committee, have completed the production of the 2010/2011 final draft Ghana EITI Audit Reports.  The Stakeholders have provided critical data and other inputs for the production of the reports. To ensure that the final reports accurately reflect stakeholders’ inputs the Ghana EITI secretariat is organising a technical validation round table workshop to discuss the report.

Foreword by the GHEITI Chairman (Chief Director of MoFEP)

I am pleased to present the 2012 Annual GHEITI Report for the Ghana EITI Secretariat. This report provides a summary of the many activities carried out by members of the National Steering Committee (NSC) and the GHEITI Secretariat for the period January –December 2012. It also provides a brief background on the Ghana EITI process, the significant successes chalked during the year and outlook for 2013.

Through a huge variety of ambitious activities undertaken as per our 2012 work plan, we have reached most of our key stakeholders such as the CSOs, Companies, the media, Members of Parliament and community people in the mining and oil and gas enclaves of the country than ever before. 

On behalf of the SLEITI Champion and the MSG in Sierra Leone, I thank the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the German International Cooperation (GIZ) and the World Bank for organizing the EITI Regional Conference and for inviting a delegation from Sierra Leone to participate in the sharing of experiences, exchange of ideas and in identifying opportunities and challenges that will enable our extractive resources in our respective countries become the engine of growth and sustainable development.

Ghana had its own share of challenges despite the useful policy recommendations made in the EITI reports to Government and other key stakeholders resulting ina number of reform measures. These challenges, in Ghana's situation, included: