Ghana’s Golden curse: How mismanagement and corruption are draining the nation’s mining wealth

"There have been key recommendations which clearly need to be adopted, and made the norm of practice; mandatory, independent audit of all mining revenues, a depoliticisation of regulatory appointments through a transparent, merit-based process with no ministerial discretion, a centralized, publicly accessible registry of all CSR payments and agreements, strengthened capacity for the Minerals Commission and EPA, criminal penalties for public officials who solicit or accept improper payments and a parliamentary select committee review of the contractual stability versus sovereign rights balance.“CSR has become a slush fund, says a researcher at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), and continuing with "Traditional leaders, district assembly officials, and even MPs demand direct payments from mining companies for projects they claim are community priorities.

Mining companies in Ghana routinely sign Community Development Agreements and contribute to Social Responsibility Funds.