…Blows Open a 3yrs cover-up by Akufo Addo’s Rotten Regime
TNR FILES
The government’s decision to uphold the revocation of Adamus Resources’ mining leases marks the explosive culmination of a three-year corporate war that has laid bare the fragility of Ghana’s mining regulatory framework.
Lands Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah confirmed on 10 August that the Minerals Commission would take administrative control of the Akango, Salman and Nkroful concessions but the regulatory violations tell only part of a far darker story.
At the heart of the storm is businesswoman Angella List, whose disputed claim to ownership has paralysed the company’s governance and poisoned its relationship with regulators. An Accra High Court restrained List, Joseph Owusu-Ansah and Dr Anthony Aubynn from holding themselves out as directors of Adamus Resources as far back as 27 July 2023.
Yet court filings show she ignored the order, purporting to transfer 90 per cent of Adamus shares using a disputed share transfer agreement signed with one Moses Kobena Bosompem. The Supreme Court of Western Australia had already found that List unlawfully tried to remove Allan Morrison as sole director of Adamus Australia in November 2022.
The Minerals Commission’s Inspectorate Division documented violations that went far beyond administrative lapses. Adamus subleased portions of its concessions to foreign nationals specifically Chinese nationals for independent mining without the Minister’s written approval, in breach of section 14(1) of Act 703.
The company mined outside demarcated areas without an approved operating permit from the Chief Inspector of Mines, violating Regulations 200(1)(b) and 200(1)(d) of L.I. 2176. It operated without environmental and forestry approvals from the Environmental Protection Authority, contrary to section 18 of Act 703. Environmental bonds remain only partially fulfilled, leaving the state exposed to reclamation liabilities.
More troubling still was the company’s conduct during the review process. The Inter-Ministerial Committee found that Adamus deliberately concealed information and provided misleading data. It failed to cooperate with the Interim Management Committee established to oversee the mine a pattern of obstruction that mirrored List’s earlier defiance of court orders.
The financial irregularities uncovered are staggering. The committee documented US224 million was transferred to related parties abroad. Unexplained variances in gold exports added another layer of suspicion. The scale of unpaid obligations totalling over GH¢377 million represents one of the largest revenue losses ever recorded in Ghana’s mining sector.
The List factor cannot be separated from the regulatory collapse. Her contested role created a fractured management structure, confusion over lawful authority, and a breakdown in cooperation with regulators.
Court documents previously revealed that List and Bosompem acted as though they controlled Adamus despite court orders, using a disputed share transfer to justify decisions affecting the concession. The IMC has been “continually stifled by Angela List and her Nguvu Mining”.
The revocation has drawn a rival claimant into the open. On 29 April, Allan Roy Morrison who describes himself as a director of Adamus Resources Pty Ltd in Australia wrote to President John Mahama claiming that his group are the “legitimate and original stakeholders” behind the assets and that the concessions were “wrongfully taken” from them.
Morrison’s letter, copied to the Australian High Commission, the Lands Ministry, the Attorney-General and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, offers the government a “structured pathway for the reinstatement or reallocation of these assets”.
Minister Buah has assured workers of Adamus that operations would continue under state supervision while the government seeks a court order compelling Adamus to settle all outstanding royalties, taxes and fees.
The Minerals Commission will ensure stability while the government determines the mine’s future. List, meanwhile, has petitioned the government seeking administrative review, insisting the company has “no reason to engage in illegal mining”.
She has described herself as a responsible large-scale miner with “ample evidence” of efforts to combat illegal mining. A ministerial committee was set up to review the petition, but the Minister ultimately upheld the revocation.
The Adamus saga exposes how weak corporate governance, disputed ownership, political interference and regulatory defiance can combine to undermine state revenue and threaten the integrity of Ghana’s natural resource management. The revocation signals that government is finally prepared to confront mining companies that operate with impunity and individuals who attempt to bend state institutions to private interests.
Whether the state can now restore order to the concession and recover the hundreds of millions owed will test the credibility of Ghana’s mining regulatory apparatus.