Parliament Approves Landmark Mining Revenue-Sharing Bill

Lawmakers in Freetown voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to pass the Mineral Revenue Sharing Act, a bill that will channel a portion of mining royalties directly to chiefdoms and local councils in resource-rich districts. The legislation, debated for over a year, requires companies holding large-scale mining licences to allocate a defined percentage of gross revenue to a community trust administered jointly by traditional leaders and elected councillors. "For too long, the wealth beneath our soil has left the communities above it poor," the Minister of Mines told the chamber. "Today we begin to correct that injustice." Civil society groups welcomed the bill but cautioned that its success would depend on transparent governance at the local level. The National Mining Agency is expected to publish implementation guidelines within ninety days. Opposition members, while supporting the principle, raised concerns about the lack of independent auditing provisions. An amendment to embed annual third-party audits was narrowly defeated.