By Saio Marrah
The Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Musa Timothy Kabba, has been summoned by the House of Parliament to explain the decline in mining revenues to the state.
This decision came at the request of the chairman of the parliamentary oversight committee on Mines, Saa Emerson Lamina, who is the leader of the Coalition for Change (C4C) party in the House representing Constituency 030 in Kono District. He made the comment during the debate on the bill titled: the 2021 Appropriation Act.
The bill authorizes the government to spend from the consolidated fund for the services of Sierra Leone for the year 2021 and for other related matters.
In his submission during the debate, Hon. Lamina noted that there has been a massive reduction in mining revenues (Diamond, Bauxite, Gold, Rutile and others), which contributed 24% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Sierra Leone from 2017 to 2018, to 1.6% currently.
He said that if the government could invest in the tourism sector a huge amount as it is, why not in the mining sector that used to contribute such a huge amount to the GDP. Lamina stressed that under the current circumstance, the mining industry is shrinking.
“As I speak to you today, I have been reliably informed by the National Revenue Authority (NRA) that the mining sector only contributes 1.6% to the GDP,” he said in the well of parliament, noting that this is an “alarming decline” that demanded explanation from relevant authorities, including the chairperson of the Mineral Advisory Board, Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources and the Director General of the National Minerals Agency.
However, the Speaker of the House only authorized for the invitation of the Minister, who is the political head of the sector.
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