Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, has challenged the recent announcement by Engineers & Planners (E&P) regarding their purported $130 million deal with the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) to acquire Ghana’s Black Volta goldmine from Azumah Resources.
Simons’ intervention comes amid Azumah Resources’ firm denial of any such transaction, all while an international arbitration case continues at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
In a candid and sharply worded response on his official X page, Simons didn’t hold back. He expressed astonishment at E&P’s official statement, signed by Emmanuel Erskine, Business Development Director, which sought to “set the record straight” but, according to Simons, he was stunned not just by the announcement itself but by E&P’s aggressive public statement, which he described as unprofessional and filled with insults like “stooges” and “mercenaries.”
“For a company that quickly cries defamation”, Simons questioned if such language truly reflects the tone of senior leadership.
He wrote; 1. I was stunned to see a statement from Engineers & Planners (E&P) signed by one Emmanuel Erskine, who styles himself as “Business Development Director”. (See extract below.)
2. For a company that screams “defamation!” if someone so much as coughs in their direction, I was shocked to see words like “stooges”, “mercenaries”, and others littered all over their first official public statement. Was this really sanctioned by senior execs?
3. E&P, as one of Ghana’s largest mining sector players, aspiring to national champion status, should learn to act the part!
4. And what exactly did I do? Promoted transparency, that’s it.
5. E&P organised an event on Monday (7th July, 2025), announcing that it has raised money to acquire the Black Volta goldmine from Azumah Resources. Azumah publicly denied this. And still denies it (see below).
6. Black Volta goldmine has almost 2 million ounces of gold. At today’s prices, that’s almost $7 billion worth.
7. The transaction announced by E&P involves West Africa’s main intergovernmental bank, EBID, which is said to be providing $130 million to E&P for this purpose.
8. These are big numbers. These are big deals. Involving important players. How can any public interest activist/researcher who has serious information that disinformation is being spread about fail to speak up? And if they do, do they deserve such attacks?
9. Developing Black Volta would create thousands of direct and indirect jobs. Royalties to the government could exceed $150 million depending on gold prices. Over $3.5 billion may spread through the economy. Every patriotic Ghanaian wants it to work!
10. Because of Ghana’s laws, every Ghanaian has a stake in every ounce of gold found in Ghana.
11. We have a duty as citizens to make sure that gold mining policy and business benefit all Ghanaians!
12. E&P’s actions threaten the development of Black Volta because the public ceremony to announce the purchase of a mine before aligning with the current leaseholders has forced them into a corner. The loss of credibility makes fundraising so much more difficult!
13. Some people have argued that we should back E&P at all cost because it is a “local company”. This is wrong-headed. If actions are taken that damage the jurisdiction, the harms won’t discriminate between foreign and local investors.
14. We need a vibrant industry in which anyone who legally enters the industry will thrive. Else, everyone, including Ghanaians in the industry, shall suffer too.
15. If the mining industry becomes noted for being a mess, local banks and other financiers will shy away just like foreign investors. It is rarely possible to create a system that somehow arbitrarily dispossess international investors of their assets without that same mess damaging local investors too.
16. Which brings us to the only attempted “rebuttal” of my earlier essay made by E&P. They say that their agreement with Azumah hasn’t been terminated. Well, find the termination notice attached.
17. E&P somehow suggests that this notice doesn’t matter because they – E&P – are still “funding” the joint effort that the initial agreement started. I dug into this. What I found makes the whole thing even murkier.
18. The initial agreement allowed E&P to post two directors to the Azumah board, so that the reconstituted board can oversee the joint effort to raise money and build the mine.
19. I have uncovered evidence from documents linked to the legal proceedings in Ghana that an Ecobank account was created that was controlled by these two Directors, who by the way have now been appointed to executive positions at SSNIT and Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund, and are thus Ghanaian government employees.
20. Any ongoing E&P funding of the Ecobank account does not have the approval of the Azumah’s Board as the latter has no control or knowledge of the spending. See extracts from the court documents.
21. How do we prove that? Take a look at the Ecobank account entry attached. You will see a payment made from Azumah’s bank account to the law firm of Mr. Bobby Banson who is handling the arbitration in London on behalf of…..E&P!
22. Surely, it is completely inconceivable for Azumah to be funding lawyers to file arbitration requests against it, no? Why would Azumah take money contributed by E&P and pay $500,000 of it to Mr. Banson’s firm so he can take Azumah before an international tribunal?
23. For me, this is clear evidence that the Ecobank account set up in Azumah’s name by the E&P representatives on the Board when the agreement was signed should be treated as an E&P expense account instead of an Azumah account. Thus, E&P funding of such accounts is certainly not evidence that their agreement has not been terminated.
24. E&P really just need to sit down with Azumah and amicably resolve the issues. Hard-knuckle tactics would break trust down irretrievably. Creating a protracted dispute in which EVERYONE loses. EBID seriously needs to consider very carefully whether the approach it took would lead to reconciliation or fan the flames even further. And as an international bank it owes its stakeholders some transparency in this bizarre situation!
25. As for us, we will continue to do our public interest, policy advocacy, research, and activism work without fear or bias, subjecting the conduct of powerful people that impact the society to strict scrutiny as long as we have breath, time, and energy. Accountability is a MARATHON!.
Source :www.kumasimail.com /Kwadwo Owusu
