Former Speaker Aaron Mike Oquaye and former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo have thrown their weight against renewing Gold Fields’ Tarkwa mining lease, arguing that Ghana no longer needs foreign operators to manage its gold resources. Their intervention at an IEA forum on 13 May 2026 escalates a debate that pits resource sovereignty against investor confidence.
The lease expires in 2027. Gold Fields has reportedly applied for a 20‑year extension. Government is still negotiating.
“We are in a better position”
Oquaye urged the state to reject automatic renewals. “In many countries, governments are renegotiating contracts that are still valid,” he said. Ghana’s economic challenges, he argued, are rooted in long‑standing foreign control of gold, bauxite, manganese, lithium, and oil.
The former Speaker’s language was unequivocal: Ghana must prioritise national ownership of strategic mining assets.
Sophia Akuffo went further. She insisted that Ghana now has sufficient expertise to operate the Tarkwa mine independently. She cited the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) and the growing role of Ghanaian firms already performing extraction and operational roles for foreign concessionaires.
“Ghana today possesses a highly experienced pool of mining professionals,” she said. “They can manage not only the Tarkwa mines but every mine in this country.”
Her deeper concern: host communities have not benefited proportionately from decades of large‑scale mining. Profits flow to multinationals; the state gets limited returns.
Gold Fields’ Tarkwa operation is one of Ghana’s largest gold mines. A non‑renewal would send shockwaves through the investment community, especially as Ghana competes with other West African jurisdictions for mining capital.
But the political winds are shifting. President John Mahama’s administration has already taken a harder line on resource control, including renegotiating lithium deals and asserting state participation. Oquaye and Akuffo both respected figures from different political eras give that stance powerful elite backing.
Government is expected to decide after ongoing negotiations. The IEA forum suggests that the lease renewal is no longer a routine technical matter. It has become a proxy for a larger question: should Ghana continue as a host to foreign‑owned mega‑mines, or take full operational control of its subsoil wealth?
The former Speaker and former Chief Justice have given their answer. Now the Mahama government must give its own.