The move, according to the ministry is to ensure that revenue received by government from the country’s mining industry is accurate.

This follows a recent disclosure of undervalued revenue received from gold export to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Speaking to journalists, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu maintained the move will block all revenue leakages in the export of gold and other commodities.

“As governments, we have been short changed for a long time in the history of a country that is involved in mining, what the ministry in collaboration with government seeks to do now is to introduce what we call an operational audit of mining firms and this is going to be across all mining companies that are going to work in this country.”

He added that it is important for the mining companies to be cooperative in the rolling out of the audit in order to achieve the best results, “We will introduce an operational audit that will determine that the royalties, the tax regimes and all the other benefits in terms of what comes to government are actual. We feel strongly that government’s take in terms of our royalties and our benefits are being paid and not properly reported and so most of these companies, of course as you know, are listed and so if they are listed, we expect them to be very open to us when we commence this operational audit.”

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By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

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Ukrainian Iryna Nohai and her South African fiancee Emlyn Culverwell were arrested in Abu Dhabi after a doctor discovered Ms Nohai was pregnant.

Sex outside marriage is illegal in the religiously conservative Gulf nation.

Mr Culverwell’s mother had pleaded for their release, saying “the only thing they did wrong was fall in love”.

Describing the phone call she received from her son on Friday to say that the charges had been dropped, Lynda Culverwell told South African media: “I didn’t know if I wanted to scream or cry.”

“I’m dreaming about my grand-baby‚” she added in an interview with the Times Live news website. “I have to resist calling them every two minutes.”

Iryna Nohai, 27, had gone to hospital, suffering from stomach cramps.

But a local doctor reported her to the authorities after discovering she was pregnant.

When the pair failed to produce a marriage certificate they were arrested in the hospital.

South Africa’s International Relations Department, which had said it was unable to offer the couple any help in the case, confirmed news of the release to local media.

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Source: BBC

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