Joyce Bawa Mogtari, a Special Aide for former President John Mahama, has affirmed the next government of Mahama will still grant amnesty to alleged illegal miners awaiting prosecution in jail and some convicted miners. Prior to the 2020 general election, John Mahama promised the people of Odum-Banso, a galamsey community in the Western Region that he will grant amnesty to arrested galamsey operators.
Joyce Bawa-Mogtari, spokesperson for John Mahama has affirmed the promised made by Mahama and said it is unfair that foreign nationals and government appointees implicated in the Prof Frimgpong Boateng report on illegal mining have been left scot-free, while the galamsey operators suffer jail time.
“If there are many of our brothers and sisters languishing in prisons because of galamsey, certainly this is a matter that we must look at within the context of the Frimpong Boateng Report”, she stated. She further said if people are being bandied together and thrown into prison without necessarily going before the law, and in some cases wait years for a trial, there needs to be an investigation into it for some interventions to be employed.
On addressing illegal mining in the next NDC government, she said it will serve the country’s interest to have stakeholders in communities join the the conversation and grant amnesty to the illegal mining operators other than those cited in the Frimpong Boateng report.
Furthermore, she noted that if the party wins the upcoming election, it will invest $500 million to combat the illegal mining menace, known locally as ‘galamsey’.
The flagbearer of the New Patriotic party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia during his campaign tour in the Greater Accra Region paid a visit to the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs. The Paramount Chief of Nungua and Acting President of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, Oboade Notse Professor Odaifio Welentsi III, received the Vice President with a warm welcome.
Oboade Notse Professor Odaifio Welentsi III addressing the gsathering
Welentsi III speaking on behalf of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, couldn’t help but admire his leadership style as it is a departure from the violent and radical approach that has characterized some leaders in the past. They believe his calm demeanor will enable him to make informed decisions that will benefit the country and its citizens. “We state with all emphasis that when it comes to effective leadership, you don’t have to be radical, violent, or pompous to be a bold leader. Being a bold leader is not about brawls, but rather brains.” They remarked.
Oboade Notse Welentsi III concluded his statement by stressing on the belief in the visions and policies of the Vice President. “Having observed you from afar, we believe you have a lot of potential to offer this country. Do not disappoint, because your records will always be there – they will be used to evaluate you. On selfless leadership, we have less to say about you. Your Excellency, you are an accomplished man. You’re a successful man. Therefore, we are convinced you will not fail the test when it comes to selfless leadership,” he stated.
Dr. Bawumia expressing his appreciation
Dr. Bawumia thanked the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs for their endorsement and assured them that he will not disappoint the country when elected President. He also sought their wisdom and guidance in his quest to lead Ghana forward.
The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as part of his campaign tour in the Greater Accra Region met with the clergy to seek prayers and guidance for his tour in the region.
Meeting with the clergy, Dr. Bawumia said that if elected president, he will partner the clergy to secure support from the private sector to complete the national cathedral. “I believe it is a very important thing for Ghana. I think that as it stands now the church will have to come together and government, sit down and talk about the way forward. The church should come together to let us know how we can even get private resources to help us complete the cathedral but I think IT IS POSSIBLE,” he suggested.
The NPP Presidential candidate will later meet the Imams of the muslim community as well and receive islamic prayers. In his tour in Accra, he will spend two days engaging with the youth, market women and other stakeholders.
The Director of communications for the Bawumia Campaign, Dennis Miracles Aboagye on the maiden edition of The Next Chapter show talked about the educational transformation in this country. The Next Chapter, a political show that has been set up by the Bawumia Campaign to promote the policies and visions of the presidential candidate of NPP, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
A kindergarten school infrastructure
During the show, Miracles Aboagye said “there has been a massive transformation in this country”. He began to talk about the educational situation Kufuor-led administration left for the NDC to retrogress the country and how this government have transformed the educational sector. At the Kindergarten level, he said the number of public kindergarten school have increased by 795. “In our kindergarten schools we are heavily investing in our teachers and equipping them with modern methodologies tailored for early childhood development”, he further said.
Primary school students learning with a tablet
At the primary school level, Miracles Aboagye spoke about how the number of primary schools have increased steadily across the country over the years with government providing additional 1,217 public primary schools. The government has also introduced National Standardized Tests for primary 2 and primary 4 pupils which has yielded results as proficiency in reading for primary 2 students have improved from 2% in 2015 to 38% in 2022, he remarked.
JHS students at their science laboratory
“The number of JHS schools across the country is currently 19,001, showing an increasing trend similar to the other levels of the basic education sub-sector. The number of schools increased with an additional 1791 for public JHS from the 2015/16 to 2020/21 academic year”. He further touted government’s achievements at the JHS level.
On January 23, 2024, Julius Malema, South Africa’s founder and leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters addressed members of the ARISE – Save Ghana movement at the College of Physicians & Surgeons auditorium, Accra.
Julius Malema
The eagerly awaited event had scores of Ghanaians seated at the auditorium and others glued by their television sets with all kinds of expectations – knowing the firebrand of a guest speaker who is about delivering his speech.
Mr. Julius Malema finally mounted the podium after short speeches by organizers and some big wigs of the National Democratic Congress. His speech was flawless and timely for the Ghanaian populace, especially at a time where the country is forging on into a general election.
In Mr. Malema’s speech, he drew the attention of audience and to an extension, the entire country to embrace unity and new ideas among the old and the youth. ‘’The old must allow the young to lead and those who served in the past must not attack new ideas’’ – Mr. Malema said
South Africa’s Opposition Leader, Julius Malema
He also urged former presidents to be content and not be moved with the idea of relinquishing power. ‘’All former Presidents should live like how all other progressive Presidents have lived, who are statesmen and are home waiting for courtesy visits and consultations, and honour states functions. Those are the duties of former Presidents’’ – he directed.
In his conclusion, Mr. Julius Malema extended an open invitation to the people of Ghana and all Africans to take advantage of the opportunities in South Africa and spread the African love.
Kwabena Agyapong, a former general secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has praised Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for his success and generosity after being elected as the party’s flagbearer.
One of the 10 competitors in the race, Mr. Agyapong, has publicly backed Bawumia since the results were revealed.
Kwabena Agyapong and the Venerable Bawumia in a picture
“I was one of the ten contestants in the election, and in the end, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia emerged the winner to lead our party,” stated Agyapong, thanking NPP members in the Volta Region for their support on Sunday during Dr. Bawumia’s visit. Such competitions require both generous winners and gracious losers to demonstrate their graciousness.”
“The victor, Dr. Bawumia, has shown great generosity. He has proven this by paying visits to everyone who disagreed with him. It was lovely for the four of us to be seated at the same table with him last Friday in Kumasi.”
He’s proven to be a uniter, and I’ve also shown grace in losing. In order to guarantee that he wins and the party wins in 2024, we are cooperating.”
In order to increase the party’s vote share in 2024, Mr. Agyapong asked Volta Region party executives as well as the victors and defeaters of the most recent parliamentary primaries to band together.
Kwabena Agyapong escorts Bawumia to the North
Since 1992, we have had more votes here, and with Dr. Bawumia, I am optimistic that we will have even more and succeed next year, in shaa Allah. Thus, let’s band together and strive for success.”
NPP National Chairman Stephen Ayesu Ntim, former General Secretary Kwabena Agyapong, and Dr. Nana Ayew Afriyie, the Member of Parliament for Efiduase in the Ashanti Region, were among the delegation led by Dr. Bawumia.
The debate over Ghana’s first mining lease for the extraction of lithium has drawn in participation from two legal and mining specialists, Mr. Fui Tsikata and Mr. Kofi Ansah.
Legal and mining experts jointly published a paper on Monday, December 11, 2023, in which they criticized the analysis conducted by the Institute Economic Affairs (IEA), Professor Ransford Gyampo of the University of Ghana’s Political Science Department, and Mrs. Sophia Akuffo, the former Chief Justice, for making “the error of promoting form over substance.” A former lecturer at the University of Ghana Faculty of Law, Mr. Fui Tsikata, is a renowned lawyer with over forty (40) years of experience in the mining industry. On the other hand, Mr. Kofi Ansah served as President Rawlings’ first Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission from 1993 to 1999.
Despite pointing out two areas in which the government could have improved the lease, the two stated that the “widely-publicized criticisms are patently wrong” and that they are the result of an ignorance of the rules and regulations governing the mining business. The government of Ghana granted a mining lease to Barari DV Ltd., a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium Ltd., in October of this year so that the company could utilize lithium in Ghana. The Minister emphasized that Ghana will never export lithium in its raw form during the brief ceremony to commemorate the lease’s signing, calling it the best deal for the country. The government of Ghana granted a mining lease to Barari DV Ltd., a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium Ltd., in October of this year so that the company could utilize lithium in Ghana. The Minister emphasized that Ghana will never export lithium in its raw form during the brief ceremony to commemorate the lease’s signing, calling it the best deal for the country. But several members of the public, most notably the IEA and former Chief Justice Prof. Gyampo, criticized the arrangement.
The Minerals Commission’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Martin Ayisi, the Minerals Income Investment Fund’s (MIIF) Chief Executive Officer, Nana Yaw Koranteng, and the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor, MP, took turns explaining to the public the procedures that led to the lease’s grant as well as its terms during a press briefing on Monday, December 11, 2023. They maintained that the following benefits—which include the building of a refinery and the domestic sale of byproducts—are unprecedented and in Ghana’s best interests: the ten percent (10%) royalty rate, the thirteen percent (13%) free carried interest, the six percent (6%) interest secured by MIIF, and the additional three percent (3%) in the Australian listed holding company.
The Ministry and the Commission claim that the free-carried interest secured and the royalty rate are among the highest in the world. However, the company is still required to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange in order to increase Ghanaian participation to a minimum of thirty percent (30%). Thoughts on the lease have persisted despite these justifications. The two experts think that the current state of affairs is such that a large portion of the commentary on the lease is misinformed and stems from a lack of knowledge about the mining sector. “There are fundamental flaws in the methods used by the IEA and Professor Gyampo in computing revenues and the allocation of potential direct monetary benefits from the project that undermine the conclusions they seek to draw,” they claim.
It is a mistake to prioritize form over substance in the IEA and Ms. Akuffo’s argument that “joint venture agreements or “service contracts” are better than leases or concession contracts.” They clarified that the project generates gross revenue of US$688 million annually, not the US$24 billion that Prof. Gyampo and the IEA had claimed. Furthermore, they clarified that the government would receive a minimum of 51 percent (51%) of the project’s revenue, rather than the 13 percent (13%) proposed by the IEA and Prof. Gyampo, when all the negotiated terms are taken into account. According to them, the government’s earnings from mining operations are at their highest point ever, with typical operations typically providing an average of forty-five percent (45%) or less.
The two experts characterized requests for a joint venture made by the former Chief Justice and the IEA as misinterpretations of the sector. Regarding the argument pertaining to “joint ventures” and “service contracts,” it is evidently incorrect to state explicitly that they are superior to leases. The proposal doesn’t even try to compare financial terms in a way that is meaningful. Spodumene concentrate, the beneficiated lithium ore, is the main product. They stated that they thought the government could tighten the language regarding the possibility of setting up a plant to process the concentrate from the mine and improve the pricing of this product. They do, however, think that the government negotiated this agreement very well.
The government performed exceptionally well in obtaining the negotiated terms, according to similar analyses by Dr. Sam Jonah, the former president of Anglogold Ashanti; Dr. Kwabena Donkor, the NDC MP for Pru East; and Dr. Donkor, the former minister of power. In response to Mr. Fui Tsikata and Ansah’s concerns, Mr. Martin Ayisi, CEO of the Minerals Commission, stated that the recommendations made by the two experts are highly appreciated. According to him, those conversations have already been taken into consideration, and additional terms need to be added to related agreements.
He clarified that the government still needs to approve the agreement with Piedmont. According to the CEO, the Commission is open to suggestions on how to do a better job. But he insisted that those criticisms be factual because many of them are not supported by the evidence.
The government has disbursed over GHC100 million as grant funding and training to youth-led start-ups and Micro, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) to generate youth entrepreneurs and leverage Ghana’s youthful population to stimulate economic empowerment and development.
Through the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project (GJSP) and the Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP) implemented by the Ghana Enterprises Agency, the government has provided capacity building on business management, technical assistance and grant funding to over 30,000 persons, selected start-ups and MSMEs, with many more expected to receive same in the coming year.
Addressing thousands of youth drawn from across the country at the end of a YouStartGrant Expo dubbed “Empowering Youth Entrepreneurs for a Resilient Economy” in Accra, the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia reiterated the government’s determination to provide the youth with the necessary training and funds to make it on their own and contribute their quota to national development.
“It is exciting to note that these initiatives are ongoing efforts by the government to create an entrepreneurial economy. In September 2023, the government, through the Ghana Enterprises Agency, approved over GHC35 Million to 272 MSMEs under various components of the Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP).
“Also, between September 2021 and August 2022, the government supported over 780 firms with grant funding of over GHS65 Million under the GETP.
YouStart cash donations for Startups
“I am happy to announce that the Government of Ghana, through the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project (GJSP) and the Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP), will award grant support of almost GHS 65 million to 3,000 start-ups and MSMEs gathered here, with the total support to beneficiaries in 2023, totalling GHS 100 million. It is also important to note that a special grant package has been designed to support and empower Persons With Disabilities (PWD),” he announced.
Over 30,000 young persons and MSMEs have already received between four and five days of Business Management Training, with more entrepreneurs and start-ups and established enterprises expected to receive grant funding in 2024 under the YouStartGrant initiative.
YouStart Event in Accra
“By the end of these two Projects, the government will have supported more than 50,000 start-ups and MSMEs with technical and financial support through the Ghana Enterprises Agency.”
The overall impact of these two initiatives extends beyond financial figures and statistical metrics, the Vice President noted.
“This grant funding is not just a monetary transaction; it is an investment in the dreams, aspirations and potential of the youth. It is a signal that shows the youth of this great nation that ‘it is possible’. Through strategic partnerships and targeted interventions, we are creating an environment of possibilities where ideas flourish, businesses thrive and individuals find the means to unleash their potential. And it is surely the complementary pathway to nurture and reap the demographic dividend of having a youthful population.
“By providing financial resources alongside targeted training programs, we are empowering the youth for the paradigm shift of job creation as opposed to job seekers. I strongly believe that such Technical Assistance and catalytic grants will drive the objective of promoting private investments and business growth. This is a strategic move towards industrialisation, export expansion, and job creation.
“Let us recognise the significance of today’s grant signing ceremony in shaping the destiny of our nation. Let it re-echo in our minds and hearts that investing in the strengthening of the nation’s youth and businesses through these interventions stimulates and lays the foundations for economic growth and prosperity for all.
“By empowering the youth, we are contributing to a secure future where no one is left behind, and our nation stands as an icon of success on the international stage.”
Dr. Theo Acheampong, an economist, has stated that it makes sense for Ghanaians to use a credit score system starting in the upcoming year, as suggested by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
He stated that in order to achieve the ultimate goal of a customized credit score, using the Ghana Card to become the credit system’s anchor must be supported.
Dr. Theo Acheampong
At the 57th Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology congregation, Dr. Bawumia declared that Ghana will implement a credit scoring system the following year to enable citizens of Ghana to obtain personal loans and to assist financial institutions in managing the sharing of costs and risks with their clientele.
He believed that the credit system would guarantee debt repayment discipline.
“Ghana will launch a personal credit scoring system early in 2019.” Each person will possess a credit score. We do not yet have a credit scoring system in place.
As a result, interest rates are high and everyone is viewed as dangerous. However, we’ll talk about unique credit scores next. Therefore, you will have no credit score and difficulty getting a loan if you don’t pay back your current one. However, you will receive a great credit score and perhaps cheaper interest rates if you pay your loans back on time. More discipline will result from this, he said.
Dr. Theo Acheampong stated that “We must commend such policies” in a post on his X platform. Before the elections of 2024, the policy discussions have already begun, and some of us are here to critically examine them and suggest other directions. It is our civic obligation.
Below is the full write-up…
DR BAWUMIAH IS RIGHT: A PERSONAL CREDIT-SCORING SYSTEM DOES NOT EXIST, AND IT IS A MUST TO DEEPEN FINANCIAL ACCESS
Vice President Dr Mahamadu Bawumiah of the ruling NPP administration recently remarked, “Ghana will introduce a credit scoring system next year for citizens [individuals], which will help citizens access personal loans and help financial institutions control the allocation of risks and costs”.
“right now our CREDIT-SCORING SYSTEM DOES NOT EXIST so everybody is seen as risky and the interest rates are high….But we are going to move into INDIVIDUALISED CREDIT SCORING…and that the Ghana Card will become the anchor for the credit system”.
According to the Bank of Ghana’s 2022 Credit Reporting Activity Report, there are currently three (3) licenced credit bureaus: XDS Data Ghana Limited, HudsonPrice Data Solutions Limited and Dun and Bradstreet Credit Bureau Limited. These companies operate under the Credit Reporting Act, 2007 (Act 726) and are involved in collecting credit data and providing credit referencing services to financial institutions. Furthermore, a total number of twenty-two (22) institutions and companies designated as data providers and authorized users of the credit reporting system were at various stages of full compliance (pp.8-9).
Pages 9 of the same report published by the Bank of Ghana notes that “Banks generally complied with data submission requirements and actively used the services of credit bureaus”.
Furthermore, 9.1 million searches were conducted by authorised users on individual borrowers or potential individual borrowers in 2022. Another 277,315 searches were conducted on businesses or corporate borrowers. By far, most of the searches were on individual borrowers (97%) compared with 3% of businesses.
However, it is important to note that the products and services offered by the Credit Bureaus are not INDIVIDUALISED CREDIT SCORING. Rather, these come in six (forms), namely:
“Consumer Basic Trace Report: This contains information on personal details, credit account summary, address history, guarantor details and telephone history. This is designed to help the lender in completing “know your customer” (KYC) documentation on the customer.
Consumer Basic Credit Report: This contains personal information, credit account summary, detailed credit facility status, and monthly payment behaviour.
Basic Commercial Report: It contains company registration details, directors and credit account summary. It is designed to provide background information on companies and basic information on credit exposure.
Consumer Credit Report – This contains the credit profile overview, credit profile summary, credit facility details, and demographic information. This report provides information on the credit exposure and repayment history of borrowers and empowers lenders to make better credit risk decisions.
Commercial Credit Report – This presents the credit history, demographic information and company profiles, and
Industry Reports – These include a variety of products to enhance the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) procedures of financial institutions with respect to banks’ business customers.”
In other words, the current data provided by the credit bureaus are amalgamated reports comprising different data points such as personal details, credit account summary, address history, guarantor details and telephone history. The companies, for one reason or another, are unable to combine this information into a COMPOSITE CREDIT SCORE such as offered by the likes of companies like Experian and TransUnion here in the UK where I am based, and which can allow the pricing of individual financial products and services. In terms of evidence, I have attached my Experian score, which currently sits at 961 out of 999 and is rated excellent. With this single number, I can access various products, including credit cards, loans, insurance, and other financial products.
Dr Bawumiah is right in the sense that an INDIVIDUALISED CREDIT SCORING does not exist in Ghana.
I am by no means an IT expert, but leveraging the Ghana Card to become the anchor of the credit system and, thereby, meet the ultimate goal of a personalised credit score is a sensible idea that all must support.
We must commend such policies. The policy debates have already started ahead of the 2024 elections, and some of us are here to interrogate them in detail and offer alternative pathways. It is our civic duty!
Dr. Mahamudu Buwumia, the vice president, has pleaded with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to use the Ghana Card as the foundation for data and information in order to expand the nation’s tax base.
The Life changing Ghana Card
He claimed that the government has been able to raise the percentage of individuals with Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) from the 4% it inherited in 2017 to the current 85% since the TIN and Ghana Card systems were merged.
I’m warning GRA about this. Now that we’ve put this together, I’m stating that the data is available,” the vice president stated.
Dr. Bawumia with the Asante Hene
He bemoaned, “It is a very lazy approach to go and keep looking for taxes from people who are already paying their taxes when you can look at the vast majority who are not paying their taxes,” emphasizing that greater revenue would be generated and the tax net would widen before further tax increases were necessary.
Dr Bawumia made the appeal in a keynote address at the 57th Congregation of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi last Friday.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, the Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, Professor Rita Akosua Dickson, and the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who also serves as the institution’s Chancellor, honored the occasion.
Other guests in the jam-packed KNUST Great Hall included scholars, legislators, and traditional leaders. At the 57th Congregation of the KNUST in Kumasi, Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II (3rd from left), and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia (3rd from right) are shown beside other of the dignitaries who were awarded honorary doctorates.
Early in the next year, the Vice-President also alluded to the introduction of a personal credit score system by the government. He claimed that “everyone would have a credit score” and that “interest rates were higher” since there was no credit score system and everyone was viewed as dangerous.
Vice President Bawumia bows to greet Otumfo
Nevertheless, Dr. Bawumia pointed out that the government had pledged its unwavering support to improve infrastructure and facilities, including the completion of the KNUST Teaching Hospital, in order to lessen the burden of student formation and training. This was in recognition of the demands made by the Free SHS on upper education institutions.
