Kingho Mining Company Limited have the biggest Iron Ore mining concession in this country. They have not even utilised a quarter of the Iron Ore mining concession that they control in the Tonkolili district. According to industry experts, all their concession areas have high grade deposits of Iron Ore.
In 2021, the Government of Sierra Leone leased the Pepel Railway and Port assets to Kingho Railway and Port. After two years, the Government of Sierra Leone on 10th January, 2023 terminated the lease agreement with Kingho Railway and Port.
By then, the Government of Sierra Leone had sold on the idea of having a private company to control and manage the Pepel Railway and Port based on a lease agreement.
In January 2023, the Government negotiated and signed a lease agreement with ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms to develop, expand and manage the Pepel Port and Railway. ARISE IIP was expected to provide equal service to all the mining companies desirous of using the Pepel Railway and Port assets.
By the end of January 2023, Kingho was ready to work with a third party company, selected by the Government, to manage the Pepel Railway and Port as long as services were provided for all the players evenly.
Some people in the government promoted โproject fearโ, by claiming that, if Kingho did not get the Pepel Railway and Port, they were prepared to fund the APC campaign in the June 2023 elections. That narrative played out very well with the Government. That false narrative sold to State House, led to a change of mind.
The ARISE lease agreement had already gone to Parliament for ratification when it was put on hold. Even though the ARISE lease agreement had been unanimously approved by the Cabinet, nobody knows why it was blocked in Parliament from ratification.
After Kingho had allegedly succeeded in blocking the ARISE lease agreement in Parliament, the Chinese government started putting undue pressure on the Government of Sierra Leone to revoke the termination of the Kingho lease agreement.
Recently, in New York, the Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with President Julius Maada Bio on the margins of the UN General Assembly. Diplomatic sources in Freetown said that, during the discussions, the issue of the Pepel Railway and Port was raised by the Chinese Vice President.
Senior US diplomats in Washington have accused the Freetown administration of being pro-Chinese.
Reports, though unverified, state that, the new Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources is fighting to cancel the mining licence of Sierra Rutile in order to give it to the Chinese.
A recent meeting between the Mines Minister and the top management team of Sierra Rutile at Youyi Building ended inconclusively when the Minister reportedly threatened to cancel all tax concessions given to Sierra Rutile when they threatened to pull out of the country before the June 24, 2023 elections.
Some senior IMF officials in Freetown had advised the Government of Sierra Leone to get a private company to manage the Pepel Railway and Port for the sake of transparency and to avoid under declaration by Kingho.
Meanwhile, the bauxite mining company CTC Mining and iron ore miner Maranpa Mines Limited have been allegedly frustrated by Kingho over the use of the Pepel Railway and Port for the shipment of their minerals. State House is reportedly investigating this serious anti-competitive behaviour by Kingho.
Kingho canโt have it both ways. They cannot continue to be miners and at the same time managing the only minerals port in the country. That is unfair to the other mining companies.
The best game in town is for the Government of Sierra Leone to stick with the ARISE IIP Agreement.
It is in the best interests of the many, not the few.
May common sense prevail!
