IEA’s Kwakye welcomes Bawumia’s promise of 100% Ghanaian ownership of natural resources

The Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr John Kwakye, has welcomed the promise by the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to ensure 100 percent Ghanaian ownership of natural resources.

He said the IEA will follow this promise to ensure that it does not become a mere promise if the Vice President becomes president.

In a post on his X platform, he said “Dr Bawumia’s proposal for Ghana to explore and own her natural resources is a policy that we have long advocated and we, therefore, welcome.

“We would be following closely to ensure that the proposal doesn’t remain a mere campaign promise.”

Dr Bawumia said his administration would focus on a paradigm shift in the country’s natural resource management and ownership through policy framework to ensure that Ghanaians maximise benefits from her mineral endowment.

He made this promise during a breakfast meeting with religious leaders in the Eastern Region on Monday, as part of his nationwide campaign tour.

“I am going to refocus our paradigm for natural resource management.

For the most part, Ghana has not maximised the benefits of our natural resources,” he said.

“Since the days of the Portuguese in the 15th century, gold has always been taken out of Ghana.

We haven’t benefitted much from our natural resources; I am going to change that paradigm.

I am going to bring a bigger focus on ownership of our natural resources.”

“It is as if right now we don’t own our natural resources.

I believe that if we do the exploration; and we are going to empower our universities and the Geological Service Department to do the exploration, once we explore that we have seven gold belts that we haven’t yet discovered,” he stated.