The minority in parliament has launched a scathing attack on the government’s newly negotiated lithium agreement, labelling it a “poor deal” that will benefit only a select few individuals rather than the Ghanaian people as a whole.
Speaking to the media, Hon. Francis Kwabena Owusu-Akyaw, Member of Parliament for Juaben, expressed strong reservations about the proposed mining lease agreement, which seeks to grant Barari DV Ghana Limited the rights to extract lithium and associated minerals from a 42.63 square kilometre site in Mankessim, Central Region.
According to Owusu-Akyaw, the majority in Parliament is pushing the deal through, citing their numerical advantage, despite concerns about the agreement’s terms. “The majority claim they have the numbers, so they’ll pass it,” he said.
The agreement, submitted by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, is currently before Parliament, where lawmakers will scrutinise its commercial terms and environmental safeguards before granting approval.
Owusu-Akyaw urged Ghanaians to reject the deal, warning that the community hosting the lithium deposit stands to lose out due to the government’s “bad negotiations”. He called on citizens to support the minority’s push for a thorough investigation into the agreement.
“The percentage that will go to the community will be lost due to these bad negotiations,” Owusu-Akyaw emphasised.
The Mankessim lithium deposit is part of Ghana’s emerging lithium sector, which has attracted significant investor interest amid growing global demand for battery minerals.
The fate of the agreement hangs in the balance as Parliament examines its provisions and Ghanaians await a clearer picture of the deal’s implications for the country’s development.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
