At least, Bawumia won’t give away 60% of the entire Ghana’s bauxite to his sibling

If you may recall, sometime in 2017, the then Economic Advisor to the Vice President , Dr Bawumia, (Dr Gideon Boako), disclosed that the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has no moral right cautioning the NPP administration against leveraging Ghana’s natural resources, specifically bauxite through its partnership with China, since the Mahama’s administration capriciously gave away 58 percent of Ghana’s bauxite concession to the partners of Ibrahim Mahama, the sibling of former President Mahama (See: NDC sold 58% of bauxite concession to Ibrahim Mahama – Gideon Boako; citifmonline.com, 29/06/2017).

Observers are of the opinion that of all the scandals that took place during the Mahama administration, the most telling was the 30 years bauxite mining lease issued by the Ghana Mineral Commission to Exton Cubic, the partners of his sibling, Ibrahim Mahama, on 29^th December 2016, just a little over one week for Mahama’s government to exit power.

As it was expected, many concerned Ghanaians could not end their fury in condemnation and thus fretted thy souls with curses over the seemingly cloudy deal.

The concerned Ghanaians rightly emitted their arousing disgust and contended passionately that such a venture was nepotistic and therefore must not and cannot be allowed to proceed without challenging its authenticity.

Consequently, the Exton Cubic’s permit to undertake prospecting in the Nyinahini Forest Reserve was prudently contested in somewhere August 2017 by the then Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Mr John-Peter Amewu.

If you would remember, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, seized the equipment belonging to Exton Cubic, as Exton Cubic was accused of prospecting without a valid documentation at the Nyinahini bauxite concession.

Subsequently, the multi-billion cedi bauxite concession granted to Exton Cubic was revoked in September 2017 after the former Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu, contested vehemently that the contract to Exton Cubic was invalid.

Mr Amewu argued poignantly and forthrightly that Exton Cubic did not have the necessary documentation to undertake mining (dailyguideafrica.com, 24/11/2017).

Nevertheless, the leadership of the Exton Cubic argued forcefully that the revocation of licenses and the confiscation of mining equipment were unfair as Exton Cubic was in possession of three required permits.

As it was expected, the leadership of Exton Cubic took the matter to the High Court of Ghana, and, on February 8, 2018, the High Court ruled that, the erstwhile Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu, did not have power to revoke the mining licenses granted to Exton Cubic to prospect for bauxite.

The Attorney General, acting on behalf of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, duly submitted an ex-parte application to the Apex court, contending vehemently and purposefully that ‘the lower court’s decision ‘undermines efficient administration of justice’.

The justices of the Supreme Court of Ghana, in their wisdom, concurred with the Attorney-General, and made it clear that their verdict was predicated on the fact that the Exton Cubic knowingly or unknowingly failed to comply with the mandatory provisions of the Minerals and Mining Act and article 268 of the Constitution of Ghana.

The eminent Supreme Court Judges, therefore, maintained that the granting of ‘3 mining leases in favour of Exton Cubic was in breach of the Constitution and section 12 of the Minerals and Mining Act, Act 703’.

We should, however, not lose sight of the fact that, “every mineral in its natural state in, under or upon land in Ghana, rivers, streams, water-courses throughout the country, the exclusive economic zone and an area covered by the territorial sea or continental shelf is the property of the Republic and is vested in the President in trust for the people of Ghana” (Minerals Act 2006).

Going forward, we cannot and must not allow individuals to roam carelessly on the corridors of power and capriciously take over Ghana’s scarce resources to the detriment of the poor and disadvantaged Ghanaians.

Let me emphasise that in order for our governance system to be fair and equitable, all future political appointments and contracts offers must be based on merits, but not through vague coloration, nepotism and cronyism.

Let us therefore give the credit to the over six million discerning Ghanaians for rightly voting to safeguard Ghana’s bauxite during the 2016 general elections.

K. Badu, UK.
[email protected]