The New Patriotic Party’s Flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has pledged significant reforms in the mining sector to benefit Ghanaians if elected in the upcoming December 7, 2024, general elections.
Dr. Bawumia envisions allocating the majority of mining concessions to Ghanaian small-scale miners during his tenure, aiming to elevate them to wealthier statuses.
Addressing small-scale miners and youth groups in Tarkwa during the last leg of his campaign tour in the Western Region, he emphasized his commitment to supporting small-scale miners rather than pursuing them and confiscating their equipment.
He outlined plans to formalize small-scale mining activities, providing licenses through registration with the Small-Scale Miners Association using Ghana cards.
Additionally, he proposed enhanced representation of the Minerals Commission and the EPA, particularly in districts lacking such representation.
Dr. Bawumia emphasized the vital role of chiefs in granting mining licenses within their communities and proposed amending mining laws to decentralize key mining agencies like the Minerals Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under his presidency.
“We will allocate the mining concessions to the small-scale miners. My primary focus is to make many small-scale miners millionaires and multi-millionaires. I want to support our small-scale miners”.
“We will formalize the small-scale mining regime and give them a license. Everybody will register with the Small-Scale Miners Association with their Ghana card, and we will deepen the representation of the Minerals Commission and the EPA, and make sure that the districts that don’t have representatives, we will give them some,” he said.