How A Mining Baroness Who Bestrode NDC And NPP Finally Met Her Match
By Prince Ahenkorah
For years, Adamus Resources Limited operated in Ghana’s Western Region with a quiet confidence that bordered on impunity. Its founder, Angela List, moved easily between the corridors of the NDC and NPP, collecting leases as others collected business cards. But this weekend, the music stopped.
Lands Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, acting on the advice of the Minerals Commission, has revoked three of the company’s mining leases Akango, Salman and Nkroful with immediate effect. The grounds: a catalogue of statutory violations so comprehensive it reads like a manual on how not to mine.
THE CHARGES
According to the Ministry’s statement, Adamus:
· sub-sub-contracted mining operations without mandatory ministerial approval;
· operated without approved mining plans or permits from the Chief Inspector of Mines;
· failed to secure environmental approvals from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA);
· allowed foreign nationals – specifically Chinese operators – to engage in illegal galamsey on its concession;
· conducted mining outside designated areas using substandard methods.
The company, a subsidiary of Nguru Mining Limited, is accused of breaching the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) and its related regulations. The Minerals Commission’s investigation, the Ministry said, confirmed “widespread non-compliance”.
A MINISTER’S CONSTITUENCY
The political geometry is uncomfortable. The affected leases lie within Buah’s own constituency of Elembelle. That a minister would move so decisively against a company operating on his home soil – and owned by a businesswoman with formidable political connections suggests either genuine outrage or a carefully calculated signal that the old rules of protection no longer apply.
Perhaps both.
‘DELIBERATE BREACHES’
The Ministry’s statement, unsigned but bearing the weight of officialdom, invoked section 100(2) of Act 703, which permits revocation “in the public interest, especially in cases where mineral rights are being used to facilitate illegal mining activities (‘galamsey’) or where statutory requirements have been fundamentally violated”.
It described the breaches as “gravity and deliberate”.
Notably, the revocation is “without prejudice to any criminal charges that may be preferred against Adamus Resources Limited, and their respective directors and management under the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995)”. Translation: the company may yet face prosecution. Its directors may yet be summoned. Angela List may yet have more explaining to do.
JOBS AND LIVELIHOODS
The Ministry has promised to “safeguard the lawful jobs and livelihoods” of workers affected by the decision, with appropriate measures to be announced in due course. How that promise will be kept and whether it is more than rhetorical padding remains to be seen.
For now, the message is stark: the era of political immunity for mining operators, however well-connected, may be drawing to a close. The question is whether this is a one-off or the beginning of a genuine crackdown. The answer, as always in Accra, lies not in the statement but in the next lease that comes under review.