Cabinet will soon take a decision on whether government should divest itself of the "Golden Share" it holds in the Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC).

Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance, told the Ghana News Agency in Accra : "It is a serious matter that requires Cabinet discussion before any decision is taken."

He said it was too early to make any comments on the matter before it went to Cabinet. "I do not want to pre-empt what would be discussed at that meeting. I am however, going to table that motion before Cabinet at our next meeting now that it has come into the public domain for a decision to be taken."

Chief Executive of AGC Mr. Sam Jonah recently suggested the removal of the "Golden Share", which empowered the government to veto decisions about the company.

Mr. Jonah, who was briefing Senior Journalists on the performance of the company, explained that the "Golden Share" provision was created when Obuasi was the major source of Ashanti's mainstay operations and said the situation had changed.

The Chief Executive said that it was only when the "Golden Share" was removed that investors would do business with Ashanti on the stock market or "play the game" with Ashanti.

He said prospective investors did not see the justification in the case where a shareholder with 20 per cent including all other Ghanaian shareholders exercised that power.

Analysts all over the world had said the "Golden Share" must go for the good of the company, Mr. Jonah said.