By G. Watson Richards
The latest data released by Bea Mountain Mining Corporation (BMMC) on gold production has ignited public outrage. A monthly production of 900 kilograms of gold while Cape Mount and its people remain poor, jobless, and marginalized appears to be more of a ‘gold goodwill’.
The revelations have intensified debate over resource governance, with lawmakers, civil society actors, and community leaders questioning whether Liberia is receiving fair value from its mineral wealth.
Legal challenge emerges over mining agreement
A group of Cape Mountainans has announced plans to challenge the amended 2023 Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) between the government and BMMC.
“A group of Cape Mountaineans has decided to legally challenge the BEA Mountain Mining Corp. Agreement as amended in 2023. A team of volunteer lawyers has signed on to pursue this legal challenge. However, we also need signatures to support this effort with a political action directed at the leadership of the legislature and the Office of the President. If you want to be involved, post your name, and we will include you as a stakeholder,” said Boakai Jaleiba, Vice President of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL).
His comments add to growing scrutiny of how the agreement was processed and whether it serves public interest.
Senator calls for overhaul of mining deal
Senator Dabah M. Varpilah of Grand Cape Mount County has called for a full revision of the mining agreement, arguing that communities remain excluded from the benefits of large-scale extraction.
The senator said her push for a comprehensive revision of the deal is predicated on the fact that the living conditions of community dwellers in Kinjor and surrounding communities, where Bea Mountain Mining Corporation operates to produce billions of USD in gold exports, remain poor and unacceptable.
According to Senator Varpilah, when the volume and value of minerals being extracted from the country are compared with the living conditions of the people, noting that there is a wide gap that continues to disadvantage ordinary citizens.
“When the volume and value of minerals being extracted from the county are compared with the living conditions of the people, there is a wide gap that continues to disadvantage ordinary citizens,” she noted.
Senator Varpilah further criticized the company’s local development record, stating that BMMC has failed to effectively implement a TVET program intended to equip and prepare local resident.
“Bea Mountain has failed to effectively implement a TVET program intended to equip and prepare local residents, including the youth, for job opportunities even though this is part of the agreement,” she stated.
Production figures deepen controversy
According to figures cited in the report, BMMC produces “900 kilograms of gold every month, which is valued at over US$137 million.”
Despite this, residents say they continue to face severe deprivation. As the report notes, “citizens living in their operational areas say they do not have access to basic social services including safe drinking water, housing, electricity, quality education, and health.”
The issue gained further attention after a senior company manager reportedly confirmed production levels during a high-level visit.
“The entire nation came to a standstill when a senior manager of Liberia’s foremost gold mining company, Bea Mountain Mining Corporation (BMMC), confessed to Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung that 900 kilograms of gold valued at over US$137 million is taken out of Grand Cape Mount County every month amid widespread poverty and unemployment across Liberia,” the report stated.
During the visit, the manager was quoted as saying, “We get 900 kilos of gold from here every month.”
The disclosure translates, according to the report, to “an estimated US$137 million monthly and more than US$1.6 billion annually based on prevailing global gold prices.”
Transparency and oversight concerns
Questions over governance and oversight have also emerged. The report alleges concerns that “no Liberians are assigned to the gold storage facilities where BMMC keeps extracted gold prior to export.”
Nimba County Senator Nya D. Twayen raised concerns about valuation practices.
“Why can’t we weigh the gold from Bea Mountain in Liberia rather than in London? The answer I got was nonsense.”
He added that the current system “raises serious questions about transparency and whether Liberia is getting the full value of its resources.”
Civil society criticism
Anderson Miamen, Executive Director of the Center for Transparency and Accountability (CENTAL), criticized the handling of natural resources, stating:
“For little or nothing, our leaders have been gifting these foreign companies our natural resources. All the people in return are peanuts, pollution of their waters and livelihood sources, award of their jobs to foreigners, and compromised monitoring by oversight bodies,” he added.
He further added, “I have not seen a country whose leaders collude with foreign and even local businesses to defraud their own people, at the scale seen in Liberia.”
Allegations of illegal agreement process
The Vice President of NOCAL, Boakai Jaleiba, also alleged irregularities in the agreement’s approval.
He stated, “To start, the Bea Mountain amended agreement is flat out illegal. The Senate rammed it through on August 30, 2023. Then, on the 31st, it was shoved to the House of Representatives. The House had already shut its session on September 4th.”
He further claimed, “And yet, signatures were mysteriously scraped together between the 5th and 6th of September. Let that sink in. The entire Bea Mountain agreement is a legal carcass. Once this deal is declared legally dead, and it will be, we will come for you. Individually. Collectively,” he added.
Environmental and community impact
Environmental concerns have also been raised by residents. One community leader warned, “If we don’t move, we will die,” citing pollution of water sources used for drinking and fishing.
Civil society group Resource Equity Alliance of Liberia (REAL) stated that the situation reflects deeper structural problems, arguing that “flawed concession agreements have enabled foreign companies and elites to benefit disproportionately, while ordinary Liberians remain excluded from the country’s mineral wealth.”
Citizens demand change
Local residents and civil society groups are increasingly calling for renegotiation of the mining agreement.
Spokesperson Thompson Mahatma Kiatamba said, “The people of Cape Mount County deserve a fair and equitable share of the benefits from their natural resources. BMMC’s disregard for local communities and exploitation of our people must end.”
Public frustration is also visible on social media. Ben Suomie stated, “This is not a curse, its pure wickedness and greed.”
Franklin Howard wrote, “We are busy with CDC and UP business while other people keep taking our minerals.”
Roland Phie Harris Jr. asked, “Didn’t you guy see it in the agreement upon signing it or ya’ll were just after ya’ll pockets as usual?”
Syl Dixon added, “Foreign Powers have long been extracting our mineral resources, and the reality is we as Liberians know very well who those are involved. Stop those politicians who purchase trucks and rent them to foreign companies and nationalize our resources.”
As scrutiny intensifies, Grand Cape Mount County has become the center of a national debate over resource governance, transparency, and equity.
The unresolved question remains: how can billions of dollars in gold are extracted annually while host communities continue to live in poverty without basic social services?
