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14.03.2022 Feature Article

Open Letter To The President Of Ghana

Open Letter To The President Of Ghana
14.03.2022 LISTEN

Dear Mr President of Republic of Ghana,

Mr President, in line with your clarion call that we the citizenries should not be spectators but constructive citizens by speaking the truth to National Power (Authority). The Nation’s economic downturn calls for all hands on deck to bring about an economic upturn, hence, I write again to talk of some pertinent national issues with the view to making some recommendations on how you, (Mr President) can navigate our dear Country from the current doldrums (the economy downturn), the causal effects of COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and a poor or bad management of the economy by previous regimes and the current Presidency under your watch.

Mr President, it is normally said that most leaders are chosen by Almighty God for his people, and the Holy Bible at Ecclesiastes 3 says that ‘There is Time for Everything’. Hence, one may be right to say that your earlier two unsuccessful attempts to become the President of Ghana were meant to toughen you, God’s chosen (preferred) Ghanaian to rule Ghana around this very difficult times, in order to navigate the Country out of the calamities due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war as the causal effects..

Mr President, due to the weakening effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to the Economy, the issue of the first Hung Parliament in our democratic dispensation and the casual effects of the Russia-Ukraine war especially the surging price of crude oil and the US Dollar, the period under your second Presidency should be regarded as a New Dawn with challenges that provides both prospects and opportunities, hence a demand for very good leaderships to change the narrative of the economy to a prosperous one. That is to say, a new beginning or a New Birth of Ghana which requires a complete change in the character and attitude by all which must start from you, the leader for the flocks to follow or emulate.

Mr President, Romans 13 says that ‘Leaders are giving the authority to lead their nations into war’. So, God re-nominated you in 2020 to lead the Nation to combat the COVID-19 Pandemic which since then affected and is still affecting the health of the citizens. You are also to lead or sail us (the citizenry of Ghana) through these trying times (crisis) caused by the repercussions of the COVID-19 infections which was declared as a global pandemic on 11 March 2020 by the World Health Organization and coincidentally the first case in Ghana was reported in March 2020. This has since March 2020, changed our way of life to a New normal way of doing things or working thus affecting our habits, appearance, desire etc hence a ‘Rebirth’ of Ghana. So, Mr President you are right when you attributed the hardships in the Country to weakening effects of the COIVID-19 pandemic and to this we may now add the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war in the engine crisis etc. But as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ghana, the Head of State, Head of Government, and the President of Ghana, hence, the people of Ghana’s aspirations for a good government for the improvement of their wellbeing is through the Office of the President, so, you must take responsibility for the hardship (risks) as the Risk Owner, so that you work very hard through eliminating corrupt practices and building national consensus to mitigate the risk.

Mr President, the sufferings being endured is part and parcel of being human and this tough time should be regarded as a game changer, to change our character and attitude, which are our secret weapons to work towards a new direction of prosperity. Mr President our problem is not the lack of people with academic and professional laurels but due to both very bad character (dishonesty) and attitude. Hence urgent need for the change of character and attitude (posture) by State Officials especially those in the Legislature and Executive Arms of Government (the political leaders, who are always visible to the citizens) to trigger the citizenry to support you, the current Risk Owner of Ghana, the person God elected to lead us to mitigate the risks being faced by Ghana by the necessary control measures which will bring about very positive economic upturn.

Mr President, pardon me to reiterate the statements you made in 2020, that you cannot revive a dead man but God willing you can revive a dead economy, the causal effect of the global infection of COVID-19 at that time of your powerful statement. The repercussions of the Russia-Ukraine war has further worsened the State of the global economy thus affecting Ghana drastically. So, the message you made in 2020 signals a Rebirth of Ghana after a Great Depression or Recession of the economy which you need to revive as stated by you in 2020.

Mr President sufficed to say, your second Presidency characterizes three phases. Firstly, Phase One being-The Recession or Downturn (Falling-Off or Suffering phase) period due to the causal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, both effecting the economy, the political and social fabrics. Secondly Phase Two -the period of recovery driven by a change of character and attitude by all (Leaders and the Citizenry) in order to navigate through obstacles to an objective which is the Economic Prosperity and lastly phase three-the Economic Prosperity or success phase. Mr President, these three phases need to be explained very well to the citizenry and it is expected that with change of character and attitude by all persons cum bold or very good leadership, Ghana’s economic will realize an upturn. So, Mr President you are expected to show both good and bold leadership to bring all hands on the deck to salvage the economy.

Mr President, there is also the need to constantly remind the citizenry about the massive devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the repercussions of the current Russia-Ukraine war on the national economy. As well as the measures put in place to mitigate the associated risks of the COVID-19 Pandemic, for them to value your good management of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was made possible due to the excellent support from the medical and environmental personnel, the great Zoomlion, the International Community, the support from the various Business Communities, the Ghana Chamber of Mines which were done individually or as the support from the Private Sector, which was championed by Mr Senyo Hosi (the CEO of Bulk Oil Distributors). Likewise the support from the Chairman and Hon Members of the Council of State for their personal contributions/donation of over GHC320,000.00, the support of the Ashantehene and some Chief need to be well documented and promulgated.

Lastly and not the least, the huge cash and logistic support (PPE and food items) from His Excellency Ex-President JDM Mahama (H.E.JDM) must be acknowledged/commended by you and the citizenry and must be well documented. The support from H.E.JDM and others really demonstrated that, the whole Nation was united behind you the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to combat a common enemy (COVID-19 pandemic).

Mr President, it must be appreciated that the above mentioned support and others really made you to achieve a success story with minimum casualty from the infection of Coronavirus (COVID-19 pandemic), hence, this has also helped to make you the Show Boy/an International Icon. Hence, this shining example of National Unity is urgently required to change the downturn of the Economy to an upturn state.

But, Mr President, due to the success story in the containment of COVID-19 pandemic, some of the citizenry are failing to appreciate that the era before the invasion of the COVID-19 pandemic cum the era before the Russia-Ukraine War are very different from the years during the COVID-19 pandemic cum the era during the Russia-Ukraine War and that the years thereafter (that is post-COVID-19 pandemic and post- Russia-Ukraine War are also going to be very different. These three eras can also be put into three phases as follows.

Phase 1 – Ghana before the invasion of the COVID-19 pandemic cum the era before the Russia-Ukraine War. Phase 2- Ghana during the Great Depression, due to both the weakening effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cum effects of the Russia-Ukraine War. Phase 3-Ghana in the Years thereafter (that is post-COVID-19 pandemic and post-Russia-Ukraine War).

Mr President the failure to acknowledge the vast variations in the three phases as stated above has made some of the citizenry to indulge in the pointless exercises of comparing notes of your regime with previous regimes presumably due to lack of appreciation that the situations are not the same and will never be the same. That is to say Ghana before the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic cum the Russia-Ukraine war is very different from Ghana within the era of COVID-19 pandemic and era of the Russia-Ukraine war with their casual effects (implications) being the Great Depression and lastly, Ghana thereafter will also be very different. The citizens need to be educated why Economists normally say all things being equal (Ceteris Paribus) when comparing two situations for them to appreciate the state of affairs.

So, Mr President, there is the urgent need to get the citizens to unite under your able leadership through building consensus on National issues, so that Ghana will be blessed with the dividend of One people, One Nation and One Destiny, hence a common purpose of building Ghana beyond Aid under your tutelage or leadership, our Anchor (hope) to sail us through these very hard times. Unfortunately some people in your Political Party have been making the pointless and divisive cacophony of your Party has the Majority in the Hung Parliament as well as breaking the 8 agenda thus an attempt to alienate your opponents or other nationals from boarding the Ship being Captained by you, our Anchor (hope) to sail us through these very hard times.

Mr President, the persons involved in this divisive cacophony, have really failed to appreciate or recollect that in the 2008 Presidential Election, you led with the highest votes or nearly won as the President-Elect in the first round but the NDC Political Party won a remarkable majority seats. So if you had won the 2008 Presidential Election either the main one or the second round in 2008, your party would have been designated as the Minority in Parliament, though it would have been the Ruling Party. This would have required you (Head of the Executive Arm of Government) cum the Minority leader in Parliament to employ high level negotiation skills to negotiate with a huge Majority members in Parliament from the NDC Party for collaborative efforts for Win-Win outcomes, otherwise very difficult in governing (ruling) would have been the case.

So, Mr President, one may be right to say that due to the posture of you and your Political Party in the current democratic dispensation (which among others is characterized with a Hung Parliament) your loss of the second round of the 2008 Presidential Election was a very good omen (answer) to save Ghana from a likely mishap. A reflection of that should be an eye opener for you Mr President and the current Majority Leader in particular to rise above party politics and become builders of national consensus in dealing with critical national issues. Both a Hung Parliament with a Speaker, whose Political Party background is different from that of the Ruling Government in the first time in Ghana’s Democratic Dispensation should be very clear to you

Mr President, that national consensus on critical national issues which must pass through Parliament is imperative.

Mr President, to quote Martin Luther King ‘‘a genuine Leader is not a searcher of consensus but a Builder of Consensus’’ so a change of Attitude (posture) by you and your Party when dealing with national issues with national security implications is a must.

Mr President, you and your Political Party who constitute the current political Administration also need to take note of another prophetic words of Martin Luther King that ‘’People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because; they have not communicated with each other’’. This implies that In the World today that is torn apart by polarized views, we must dig deeper to find the common humanity each of us holds for us to share the same aspirations. This requires the recognition that all humans are the same in their needs and desire to avoid suffering hence for us to collectively tackle the problems facing the Nation, the suffering must be universal (all must tightened their belts) and collective responsibilities and cooperation of all people in Ghana among others are the required mitigation measures.

Mr President, it is reiterated that it is very unfortunate that instead of uniting the citizenry in this hard times, you and your Political Party have been talking of Majority in Parliament or fighting for a clear Majority in Parliament and breaking the 8, both of which are acts with divisive potentials, envisaged as likely threat to National Security. It also demo a failure by you and your Party to appreciate that we are still in the era of COVID-19 pandemic and for other reasons your cacophony slim or narrow majority can be lost at any time ‘T’ if it happens so, your party will be the Minority Party in Parliament as would have been the case if you had won the 2008 Presidential Election. Hence, Mr President, we need to unite behind you, our Anchor, so tone down the rhetoric and let see you and your Political Party always employing efficient negotiation skills to negotiate towards a Win-Win Outcomes (Common Ground) for the smart policies etc of your administrations that may help the nation to achieve an Economic Upturn with minimum delay.

Mr President the support in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic as mentioned above especially the support from Zoomlion, the international community, the medical and environmental personnel, the Private sector and that from His Excellency Ex-President JDM Mahama must be properly documented and promulgated by mentioning and thanking all of them during the State of the Nation address yet to be done in Parliament, to mark the effort in building national consensus to help bring about economic prosperity towards your vision of Ghana beyond Aid.

Mr President, section (6) of Article 257 of the 1992 Constitution which vested every mineral within Ghana in the President on behalf of and in trust for the people of Ghana implies that the President of Ghana (currently you) must ensure the State of Ghana gains much from both metallic minerals like Gold, Manganese (transition metal), Aluminum from bauxite ore, in future Iron etc and industrial minerals like Limestone and Clay for cement, Salt, Sand, Granite etc.

Hence, Mr President, you (our Leader) must adopt a business model for the maximization of revenue from Gold and other minerals for the development of the State, so that this could help your Administration not to consider the imposition of obnoxious taxes which have the potential to increase the suffering of the poor citizens of Ghana, due to the debilitating effects on their finances.

So, Mr President, floatation of shares from the extractive industry through the Mineral Royalties was a brilliant idea for the State. It demonstrated a reasoning outside the box to raise revenue from the extractive industry and for the citizenry to gain wealth from the precious minerals as considered in section (6) of Article 257 of the 1992 Constitution. Since it may afford the citizenry the lucrative opportunity to buy shares if floated in the local Stock Exchange. Unfortunately, the poor handling of the Policy termed Agyapa Royalties made some of the people of Ghana to kick against it. The poor policy on the Agyapa Royalties gave the Hon Mr Martin Amidu a lucrative opportunity to make unpalatable remarks against the person of the President of Ghana, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces.

Mr President, Hon Mr Martin Amidu’s, exposure in public that the initial Policy on the Agyapa Royalties contained the mother of all suspended corruption and corruption-related offences so, a corrupt machinery by your Administration, also spoke volume of the errors or seemingly unpatriotic nature of the Hon Members of Parliament (MP) of the Seventh Parliament of the 4th Republic especially the Majority MPs who were Hon Members of your party for their failure in their oversight responsibilities on the policies and workings of the Executive Arm of Government (scrutinizing statutory instruments). Hence, Parliamentary Oversight (monitoring and scrutinizing the policies or actions of the other organs of Government) and Accountability must be executed effectively by the Members of Parliament.

This very poor job or disservice (injury) by the Hon Minister of Finance that gave Hon Martin Amidu a lucrative chance to say that the initial Agyapa Royalties Policy was a corrupt machinery by you and this was capitalized by your opponents to accuse your Administration of corruption and nearly cost your re-election for the second time. Mr President, with your good work in the first term of your Administration, especially the Free SHS Agenda, the efficient National Ambulance system by the One Constituency One Ambulance, IDIF, NABCO, the Sanitation projects or plants executed and being executed cum Zoomlion Ghana or the Jospong Group, the road projects, your effort to ensure Regional Balance among others through the regional rotation of the Independence celebrations, how you managed the COVID-19 pandemic and others, it was expected that the gap between you and His Excellency Ex-President JD Mahama would have widened up by a greater margin than that of the 2016 election when His Excellency Ex-President JD Mahama was then the incumbent President.

Mr President there is the need to revisit the idea of floating shares in Mineral Royalties and this will require separate consultations on the subject with the relevant sections (Stakeholders) of the Nation or National leaders with a very good posture by you behind the scene and communicate the outcome reached by you and the relevant Stakeholders to the Nation at large by a Communique.

Mr President, the smart attempt to levy the electronic Transactions namely the E-Financial Transaction, E-Commerce Transaction and E-MoMo transaction was a very laudable policy that can propel the National economy but your Administration woefully failed to carry the people on board at the right time, hence this may hurt the national economy since revenue from electronic transaction levy was factored in the 2022 budget. So, Mr President please get the Hon Minister for Finance to change his selfish attitude or change him and build national consensus for the citizenry to know you are serious to jump start the economy to ensure the stability of the Country for you to change the Goggisburg Economy to an economic prosperity status by arresting corrupt practices, causing massive economic production through business investments in all the sectors of the economy namely the primary sector, manufacturing or secondary sector and service or tertiary sector to be backed by consumer spending based on the philosophy of eat and use items produced in Ghana and export the excess for foreign currencies

Mr President, the laudable Digitization and Digitalization agenda by His Excellency Vice President Dr Bawumia which started before the invasion of the COVID-19 pandemic demo that he is a true economic prophet, because Ghana gained a lot from the electronic system or Info Technology (internet etc) during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and Ghana stands to benefit a lot from this agenda especially revenue from taxation of electronic transaction which as stated above has three distinct areas firstly the E-Commerce sector which involves the sale or purchase of goods and services through Electronic Network, so taxation in the form of VAT (consumers tax) in the E-Commerce sector is a must do economic requirement by all Countries. Secondly Electronic Financial Transaction pertaining to the financial sector and thirdly Electronic Mobile Money (E-MoMo) Transactions which is simply the movement of cash from one Electronic Wallet to another Electronic Wallet which is a very great benefit to the citizenry especially the rural folks or people at remote areas where there are no financial institutions like Banks etc or and a great benefit to needy persons so aside the Merchants in the E-MoMo business, this transaction may not necessary have commercial or financial undertones. So, Mr President let us start with an E-MoMo transaction levy at 1% but an E-Commerce levy at not lower than 5% and a stakeholder engagement on the possibility of a levy on E-financial services maybe outside the banking hall.

Mr President, any attempt to mortgage or securitize or collaterize the E-electronic Levy (both e-Commerce and e-MoMo transactions) should not be beyond your tenure of Office.

Mr President, Historians normally say that History repeats itself and Risk Experts do say that once an occurrence has happened it may happen again. These maxims are supported by Ecclesiastes 1:9 which says that ‘What has happened before will happen again’ hence an attempt to make a Coup in Ghana may be possible, whether it will success will depends on the situation.

So, Mr President, we the people of Ghana need to be reminded of the experiences (incidents) encountered during the past Military regimes. Likewise both the people and the Government of the day must note that the austerity budget of the Busia Regime was exploited by some Military Officers to stage the few amenities Coup on 13 January 1972. And the loss or defeat of the ex-President Liman’s 1981/1982 budget in Parliament contributed to the 31 December Coup of 1981. These two examples were exploited by the affected Coup makers to advance their personal egos and not for the interest of the citizenry. So we should not create an incentive for bad nuts to exploit to attempt to stage a Coup.

Mr President, no State Official especially political leaders aside pregnant women should loose or do away with his or her belt during the period of tightening belts. We need to be prudent in managing the national purse, so we must do away with spendthrift (extravagant) expenditures. I wish to bring to your notice that the Chief of Staff has been in the news for making some expenditures from undisclosed sources especially the allegation of GHC120, 000.00 paid into the account of the Hon Adjoa Sarfo through Hon Kennedy Agyapong and the allegation made by Nana Agyeiwaa alias Afia Schwarzenegger that the Chief of Staff gave her GHC50,000.00 against the funeral of her father. I pray and hope the money came from her pocket and not part of State funds, hence for the good name of your Administration, she needs to clarify the situations with the speed of light to kill these two rumors in the media. If not true then the public must be warned against the wrong dragging of the names of State Officials into disrepute at this hard times. It must be noted the donation of 10Million Dollars to Guinea by the first President of Ghana was one of his woes. This also begs a suggestion that it is time we consider taxing total funeral donations (gift tax) above a certain threshold say GH100,000.00.

Mr President, we thank you very much for the acknowledgment of the hardship, we, the citizens are going through. This has reduced the pain and it has enabled us in return to also acknowledge that though you are to take responsibility for the hardship and act let us act swiftly to reduce it, the causal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine War.

Mr President, for us to see economic improvement, we need to answer the following questions. What actions do we need to do to achieve the goals? Or what actions do we need to stop doing in order to achieve the goals? My answers include the following.

1. Mr President, considering the hardship start with electronic MoMo transaction levy of 1% and increase it in subsequent years.

2. Employ efficient electronic system in the collection of Road Toll. By this, some employment will be generated or maintained. Your Administration must appreciate that ever pesewas or cent count, so a lucrative opportunity or system to generate revenue since 1958 or during the previous regimes only needs an improvement by digitization/digitalization/automation which is effectively executed by your Administration and private cars to be made to pay higher tolls than Commercial or passengers vehicles to encourage people to join the public buses.

3. Ghana needs to cut or reduce the national expenditure and do away with wasteful and excessive expenditure and the waste in the system. Infact the recent trip by the Parliamentary Service Board to Dubai for a Seminar or meeting or visit or holiday etc and the allegation of the hiring of luxurious Plane for your trips abroad as well as the number of persons who accompany you for the external trips, the number of State Official Cars on the Road daily etc speaks volume of wasteful and excessive expenditure and the waste in the system. So prudent use of the national purse is recommended. Thanks to Almighty God, one of us (a Ghanaian) in the person of the Chairperson of the EC (Lady Jean Mensah) reportedly saved over GHC90Million from the last election. This tells that we need a Jean Mensah at the helm of affairs of the State to ensure the prudent management of national resources.

4. Mr President, cut down the size of your Government including doing away with the superfluous Ministry of National Security and give room for the efficient functions of the National Security Council and for the National Security Coordinator to do his proper role. You also have a National Security Adviser but in the USA and other Countries, he or she doubles as the National Security Coordinator, so you need to have a second look at the National Security architecture. You may retain the Minister as the Minister of State for National Security

5. Cut down the budget for the Office of Government Machinery (OGM) reported as GHC3.1Billion which should be reduced by GHC1billion to GHC2.1 Billion. So that the GHC1billion could be used for good projects say for roads.

6. Mr President your good work of the digitalization to maximize revenue and arrest corruption must be combined with bold leadership by you. Hence you need to instil some financial discipline and sack and punish the bad nuts through lawful means. Hence the Attorney General and the Special Prosecutor should step up their effort to recover stolen or misuse state funds and properties or unexplained wealth/cash with State Officials both present and past otherwise ill-gotten wealth must be confiscated through legal means.

5. The Hon Minister for Finance to use competent and honest persons to re-prepare a corrupt free Minerals Royalties policy, build a National Consensus so that the Shares can be floated to help raise revenue and generate some employment. As stated, it is a laudable investment Portfolio and with good education based on Probity, Transparency and Accountability the dogma of the 1992 Constitution, the citizenry will accept it.

6. Mr President Section (6) of Article 257 of the 1992 Constitution has vested all minerals in Ghana on behalf of and in trust for the people in the President. Hence he or she is mandated by this Constitutional provision to ensure good accounting of gold production in Ghana and the gold obtained is sold outright and well accounted for by his or her Administration through Bank of Ghana and Precious Marketing Company. A report in 2018 had it that you said over 5 Billion Dollars worth of gold from the Small Scale Mining sector was recorded as smuggled out of Ghana to United Arab Emirates in 2016, please myjoyonline dated 25 March 2021 refers. Mr President, there were further allegations of a yearly smuggling of gold worth not less than 4Billion dollars from gold etc from Small Scale Mining. Some of the tycoons in the Small Scale Mining and their foreign collaborators or partners are the culprits, since this may be one of the ways the Chinese and other foreigners exploit to send their revenue from the mining business to their accounts in their Countries. The situation suggests negligence (inattention) on the part of the President of Ghana, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Hoarding and Smuggling of gold must be arrested. Hence, my support through the below recommendations to the President of the day to reduce the Hoarding and Smuggling so that the Nation can gain more revenue from the extractive sector.

Mr President, a trip from Kumasi through Obuasi/Dunkwa to Tarkwa and to Asankragua and to Talensi/Tongo area in the Upper Region tells very much of some good investments of the Chinese in the local economy at these minerals or mining areas. It is funny (strange) to note that some of the Ghanaian collaborators or Counterparts (the tycoons) of the Chinese in the small scale mining sector have little or minor or zero evidential material to show as their other investments or assets in the said areas. Few ones like Mr Rivers at Wassa Akropong and Nana Amponsah of Akobeng Mining in Bogoso, Tarkwa and Nzima areas worth mentioning or commending for projects in the affected areas.

This is a manifestation that Ghana needs the support of the Chinese and other Foreigners in a well regulated Mining Sector as recommended below to give the nation of Ghana, millions of employment, rural development, revenue including from PAYE and VAT from their activities. This may reduce the propensity to borrow foreign loans or reduce the quest to reduce the tax burden on the citizenry, whose Minerals the President of the day is mandated by Section (6) of Article 257 of the 1992 Constitution to hold in trust.

Mr President, the Sector Minister and or the Minerals Commission should initiate a bill or Legislative Instrument for Parliament to come out with a law to create a third nomenclature or category in the Mining Industry as Medium Scale Mining sector (Junior Mining Companies) for Ghanaian mining tycoons to operate either solely or with foreign partners in well-defined regulations (especially a threshold of funding, number of expatriate employees, local content, Royalties, taxes etc) to enable official participation of foreigners in joint ventures under efficient supervisory.

Mr President, the interested Ghanaian Business tycoons and their partners to register a Company under the Company Law 1963 (Act179). The Law(s) or Regulatory Instruments for the operations of Medium Scale Mining must consider or require the following among others; (a). Mining lease of 50 acres for 15 years (b). Posting of Reclamation Bond as determined by EPA. (c). Employment of a Ghanaian as a General Manager or Mining Manager. (d) Employment of a Ghanaian as a Safety Officer, (e) Employment of a Ghanaian as an Environmental Officer (f) Employment of a Ghanaian as a Nurse, (g)Employment of at least 20 locals including security guards from a private security service provider,(h). Payment of Withholding Tax and the payment of PAYE and SSNIT Contribution for all personnel. (i) For the proper accounting of the Gold, the presence of GRA Official otherwise the District Minerals Commission Officer or the District NIB Officer, the Rep of the owner of the Mine and a nominated third person to act as a triumvirate to witness and sign against all entries in a Bullion Record/Dispatch or Sales Book. (k). Prompt sale of the gold to Precious Marketing Company or Bank of Ghana without keeping it for more than 96hours or so.

Covert the Precious Minerals Marketing Company into a Minerals Board akin to COCOBOD to be responsible for matters pertaining to both the Small Mining Scale and the recommended Medium Scale Mining Sector.

Sir, the Road to the economic prosperity is VERY ROUGH, but with Change in both our Character and Attitude including the adoption of national consensus, God Willing we would be able to navigate through rough obstacles to achieve economic prosperity or surpass the Goggisburg Economy under your able leadership. For us to succeed, you as the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces must ensure a Jean Mensah at all State Institutions so that they adopt prudent or judicious use of scarce resources, you should cut down the size of Government for instance do away with the Ministry of National Security but retain the Minister as Minister of State for National Security, cut down the budget for OGM by GHC1 Billion. The Minister for Finance to introduce an E-Commerce levy at not less than 5%, and he should reduce the E-MoMo levy to 1% and he should engage relevant Stakeholders for the introduction of E-Financial levy. Lastly initiate a bill or Legislative Instrument for Parliament to come out with a law to create a third nomenclature or category in the Mining Industry as Medium Scale Mining sector (Junior Mining Companies) for Ghanaian mining tycoons to operate either solely or with foreign partners in well-defined regulations (especially a threshold of funding, number of expatriate employees, local content, Royalties, taxes etc) to enable official participation of foreigners in joint ventures under efficient supervisory.

Yours truly

Major Mohammed Bogobiri (Rtd)

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