…..Kofi Bentil warns
The Vice President of Imani Africa, Kofi Bentil, has reiterated his call for the government to reject any renewal of the lease of South African mining giant Gold Fields at the Tarkwa Mine, insisting that Ghanaians have the expertise and capacity to operate the mine without foreign ownership.
Speaking on TV3’s The Key Point about the killing of Ghanaian national Bashiru Isaka in South Africa, Mr Bentil argued that the country’s mineral resources should be placed in the hands of competent Ghanaian investors rather than foreign companies.
“Whatever Gold Fields is doing in Ghana, a Ghanaian can do. As you mentioned, Ibrahim Mahama, fine, let’s use him; the man has proven that he can do it,” he stated.
According to Mr Bentil, the operations currently carried out by Gold Fields could continue seamlessly under Ghanaian ownership, provided the same operational standards and workforce were maintained.
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“Give him the same deal, look at exactly what Gold Fields is doing, and say that retain the people. They bring six or so South Africans here to come and supervise our people. 95% of the people working there are Ghanaians,” he said.
He dismissed suggestions that Ghana still relied on foreign mining companies to manage its large-scale mining operations.
“My point is, there is nothing Gold Fields is doing in Ghana that we cannot insist that, even if we give it to Ibrahim Mahama, he should also do the same thing. So, there’s a bottom line that thing is non-negotiable,” he stressed.
Mr Bentil warned that renewing the lease would provoke significant public backlash against the government.
“Absolutely, we can’t renew that thing. If we renew it, this government will pay a very, very high price for it, and we will continue to harass them, so please, that is off the table,” he declared.
He also urged the government to adopt a firmer diplomatic stance towards South Africa following the killing of Bashiru Isaka, arguing that Ghana should not hesitate to defend its national interests.
“I’m saying we should go to the point where we are telling them that if you don’t stop this thing, we don’t have to be friends with you; we can survive without South Africa. After all, before apartheid, we didn’t do anything with them,” he said.
Questioning Ghana’s economic relationship with South Africa, Mr Bentil added, “We can survive without South Africa. What do we import from South Africa? Check. Wine, and they come and take gold here in raw form, undervalue it, ship it over, and then we’ll record it through a surplus. We can survive without them.”
Mr Bentil’s remarks come as the Government of Ghana and Gold Fields remain locked in negotiations over the future of the Tarkwa Mine lease, which is due to expire in 2027.
Martin Kpebu, a legal practitioner who was also on the programme, said: “We should be looking at retaliatory steps to take. I will be very upset if the Gold Fields mining lease contract is renewed”.
The government has indicated that the lease will not be renewed automatically, with growing calls from civil society organisations and sections of the public for the mine to be transferred to Ghanaian ownership.
The issue has attracted heightened attention following the government’s April 2025 decision to reject Gold Fields’ application to renew the Damang Mine lease, a move that has raised concerns among sections of the international investment community.
The debate has also unfolded against the backdrop of a diplomatic dispute between Ghana and South Africa over the fatal shooting of 40-year-old Ghanaian Bashiru Isaka in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, on June 30, 2026.
While the Government of Ghana has suggested the killing may have been linked to anti-immigrant attacks, South African police and prosecutorial authorities contend that the incident was connected to an extortion-related criminal matter rather than xenophobic violence.
