November 22, 2021
Albert Baron Ansu
We relate to the position of a citizen drawing the attention of President Bio about the rent seeking agenda of the National Mineral Agency, NMA using the ruse of cancelling licenses of mining companies with the shady object of collecting bribes.
While this position might not be systemic in the DNA of NMA, but there are hidden hands internally that have been pulling the scam in a self-serving agenda to make believe that they are serving national interest. The resultant effect has been that these crooks at NMA have been and are lining their pockets to subject government to undue loss of revenue with attendant litigation cost.
The Gerald Mining controversy supports the point I am driving. Similar NMA mining license cancellation con tricks are happening, our independent check has unearthed.
There is now growing public sensitivity to this hard to detect bribe taking action where those whose license are cancelled will be compelled to in some cases secretly have a deal to reassign the cancelled license. In some other instance, there could be another party wanting to fill the space of the cancelled license. Something, raw cash then exchange hands with somebody in decision making position being at the receiving end- outside of legitimate revenue generation pathway for government. President Bio has to know about this!
This government has to find a way of insulating against the shady tendencies at the NMA. This is the time to block such leakages. For this government is ready to bring sanity to the mines and mineral sector.
We are saying if this concern was never taken for granted it must now be closely monitored. This is because we are now talking doing clean mining business having invested so much in generating Airborne Geophysical Survey Data Packages to attract credible investors in augmenting needed revenue. And the blackmail of the government and people of Sierra Leone, including our foreign and local investors that have been victimized in the ruse are going to have a new lease of life. Certainly somebody must be suggesting the need to review mining license cancellations over a period of time and come out with a trove of findings on the racket.