Bawumia Promises 100% Ghanaian Ownership In Mineral Resources

The Vice President and flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has firmly emphasized his commitment to ensure mineral resources in the country, are 100 percent owned by Ghanaians, if he is elected as the next president in December.

His pledge, comes in the wake of concerns by many that, locals do not have full ownership of the country’s minerals resources, which is currently under the control of foreign multinational large scale mining companies, as per the current framework of Ghana’s mining sector.

He emphasized the need to refocus Ghana’s approach to natural resource management, aiming to ensure that Ghanaians have complete ownership and control over their mineral resources.

“I am going to refocus our paradigm for natural resource management. For the most part, Ghana has not maximized the benefits of our natural resources.”

“Since the days of the Portuguese in the 15th century, gold has always been taken out of Ghana. We haven’t benefitted much from our natural resources; I am going to change that paradigm. I am going to bring a bigger focus on ownership of our natural resources,” he said.

According to him, “It is as if right now, we don’t own our natural resources. I believe that if we do the exploration; and we are going to empower our universities and the geological service department to do the exploration, once we explore that we have seven gold belts that we haven’t yet discovered”.

“Once we have explored and we know that the gold is here, the new policy is going be that the ownership of those resources will be one hundred per cent owned by Ghanaians,” he stated.

Dr Bawumia, who is in the Eastern Region to begin a nationwide campaign tour, made this known during a breakfast meeting with religious leaders yesterday April 29, 2024.

Minerals Development Bank

Earlier, the Vice President, said when elected his government would create a Minerals Development Bank, where small-scale miners, can access financial support.

“We will introduce a new regime to support and upscale the work of small-scale miners. There will be no more burning of their excavators; we are going to support their growth,” he said.

Dr Bawumia, said this when he addressed party supporters at the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Unity Walk and Rally in Kwahu during the Easter festivity.

Dr Bawumia, said his government would create a new tax regime, where people who defaulted payments of their taxes in previous years, would be granted tax amnesty.

He added that they would also train one million youths in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) jobs and make national service voluntary for graduates.

Power outages

Meanwhile, the NPP flagbearer, also touched on the ongoing power outages, popularly called ‘Dumsor,’ assuring that the Ministry of Energy, is working to resolve the problem.

According to him, very soon, the challenges will become a thing of the past.

“I know that there are challenges, we are going to work on them. Currently, we have issues power, the assurance from the Minister for Energy is that those power challenges will very soon be a thing of the past, they are working at it,” he said in a breakfast meeting with some religious leaders Monday, April 29 at Akropong.

Dr Bawumia, further touted the achievements of the Akufo-Addo administration.

For the first time in the history of Ghana, he said, consumers of electricity, can sit in the comfort of their homes or wherever they find themselves and buy electric power without having to join any line at the offices of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

This, he said, is among the list of innovative measures introduced by the Akufo-Addo administration.

“For the first time in our history, people can buy electricity units on their mobile phones, we take it for granted now but a few years ago you had to go and queue at the ECG payment center to buy electricity,” Dr Bawumia said in a breakfast meeting with NPP regional leaders ahead of his start of the campaign activities, on Monday, April 29

He further indicated that, the government has built more courts for the judiciary than any other government.

Also, he said, the government has provided cars and equipment to the Ghana Armed Forces and the Police more than any administration.

Source: Anchorghana.com