Kobina Tahiru Hammond, the Minister of Trade and Industry, has addressed concerns regarding the lease of the Komenda Sugar Factory to West Africa Agro Limited, an Indian-based firm.
According to him, Ghana will not pay the company; instead, it will receive an annual rent payment of over one million dollars.
Hammond’s clarification follows comments from Yusif Sulemana, the Ranking Member on the Trade and Industry Committee, who expressed concerns that Parliament was not informed of the decision and alleged that the company would be paid $50,000 monthly for management services.
Speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, the Trade Minister refuted this claim, stating that the company will, in fact, pay Ghana an annual rent currently set at over one million dollars.
He explained that this payment will be made annually for the duration of the lease, which can be extended at the company’s discretion. “So at the commencement of the agreement to let them lease it, they would be paying us a yearly rent. The company will be paying us, I’ve said that it is over a million dollars. I’ve agreed on a figure which is, for now, a little more than one million dollars a year.”
Hammond further clarified that the company will continue to pay this annual rent as long as they lease the factory. “They will pay us for the year that they’ll be leasing it. At the end of it, if they are still interested, they could extend the period that they leased and keep on paying us the year’s rent until they give it back to us.”
