Government spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu has dismissed allegations that President John Mahama played a role in the awarding of the Damang Mine lease to Engineers & Planners. The Abura Asebu-Kwamankese MP maintains that the President became “the biggest stumbling block” to the bid.
Speaking on PM Express on Monday with host Evans Mensah, Mr. Kwakye Ofosu explained that the President intentionally refrained from Cabinet discussions on the issue due to his brother, Ibrahim Mahama’s, involvement.
“On the contrary, I will argue that the biggest obstacle to E&P taking that mine was the President,” he stated.
He further noted that the Lands and Natural Resources Minister had first informed Cabinet that the Damang mining lease was expiring and that a decision had already been made not to renew it.
“At the Cabinet meeting that considered that particular matter of the Damang mining lease, the President recused himself. He did not sit in that meeting,” he said.
When host Evans Mensah asked why the President stepped aside, Mr Kwakye Ofosu explained that the President considered it the ethical thing to do, to avoid any perception that he was influencing a decision involving a company in which his brother had an interest.
He added that the Vice President presided over the meeting in the President’s absence.
Mr Kwakye Ofosu further revealed that Cabinet pushed for the mining lease to be awarded through a competitive process rather than by direct allocation. “I think we will struggle to find an instance where a competitive process has been used to award the lease of a mining concession in Ghana,” he said.
He explained that when the minister presented the matter, Cabinet records would show that members insisted on a competitive selection process to determine which company would secure the lease.
According to him, President Mahama consistently recused himself whenever the issue came before Cabinet and remained bound by whatever decision Cabinet reached.
“The President was not part of the decision-making and did not stampede the process,” he said.
Mr Kwakye Ofosu argued that the government could have directly awarded the concession to Engineers & Planners but deliberately chose not to do so.
“We could simply have handed over to E&P without any competitive process, but Cabinet insisted that the competitive process be used,” he stated.
He also noted that the committee overseeing the process publicly accounted for its work and clarified why certain companies were successful while others were not.
He added that Parliament would still have the chance to examine the lease agreement during the ratification process.
n further defence of the President, Mr Kwakye Ofosu said Cabinet ministers openly expressed differing opinions during discussions on the matter.
“The debate at Cabinet that day was rigorous. People voiced their views frankly, without fear or favour,” he said.
He stressed that the decision was not merely endorsed without scrutiny.
“There was no rubber-stamp decision at that place.”
He concluded by arguing that if anyone claimed the President facilitated the transfer of the mine to his brother, then the President could instead be seen as the main obstacle to Engineers & Planners acquiring the Damang Mine.
“If you say that the President handed over to his brother, I would even agree that the President was the biggest stumbling block to E&P’s acquisition of the Damang Mine.”
