The University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) chapter of Tertiary Education Institutions Network of NDC (TEIN) has commended President John Dramani Mahama, flagbearer of opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for assuring Ghanaian youth of jobs in the country’s mining industry through an initiative he would develop to change and regulate the industry
“H.E John Dramani Mahama’s recent proposal which seeks to establish district mining offices with the locus to issue permits and effectively regulate small scale or artisanal miners while employing university graduates to supervise this sector.
“TEIN UMaT, therefore, speaks on behalf of all Ghanaians, the youth especially, when we say that the recent policy proposal by His Excellency John Dramani Mahama to regulate the small scale mining sector is a step in the right direction”
According to TEIN, the mining industry is the largest tax-paying sector in the country and it makes a notable contribution to GDP and employment.
“In the second quarter of 2023 alone, the mining sector added a whopping 5.8 billion cedis to the Gross Domestic product of the country. This, undoubtedly is an indication that the mining industry as a private sector needs to be given the utmost attention to augment its revenue generation. It is against this backdrop, that the nation builder has announced reforms to be deployed in the mining sector to boost productivity and create employment for the teeming unemployed youth of this country in the mining sector.”
John Mahama while addressing a group of small scale miners in the town of Nsutem located in the Fanteawkwaw South constituency in the Eastern region, posited a novelle scheme targeted at streamlining the small scale mining sector for a seamless operation.
Specifically, the establishment of district mining offices in the various mining areas with a decentralized regulatory and licensing process for artisanal miners.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the few district mining offices in the country, as it stands, do not have the legal mandate to issue mining licenses to applicants. That sole unfettered power is conferred on the CEO of Minerals Commission subject to the approval of the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.
Undeniably, issuance of permits by the Minerals Commission is as difficult as nailing jelly to a tree.
Need we add that, conferring unconfined powers to a single entity becomes a recipe to allowing corruption and political discrimination to flourish. Undeniably, persons who are not in the good books of the governing party would be denied permit approvals without a second thought. Small-scale miners who apply for licenses have to wait for their documents processed at the central point in the capital.”
This causes them a great deal of time wasting and worst off is that the licensing is done with discrimination as a yardstick.
“The NPP government has politicized all sectors so much that even in application of licenses, priority is given to their NPP apologists and apparatchiks.
“This unnecessary bureaucracy and political discrimination in the licensing acquisition process, has led to stagnation in the small-scale industry as it is preventing new small-scale mining firms from operating and also reducing the job prospects in the sector.
“Small scale miners in the country, have been frustrated by the bureaucracy and political discrimination that the licensing process has been marred with.
“It comes as a surprise to us that even the Deputy Lands and Natural Resources Minister, George Mireku Duker, despite being MP for Tarkwa Nsuaem, a rich mining area, and knowing fully well the challenges confronting small scale miners has not taken any pragmatic steps with his NPP government to remedy the situation”
Addressing a press conference at the University to highlight the importance of the policy initiatives as proposed by John Dramani Mahama, and the NDC on Tuesday, the President of TEIN Shalom Kennedy-Zumedor, flanked by Communications Officer of TEIN, Ebenezer Agyarko Manu, said the intervention, when implemented would establish and equip district mining offices in mining areas with the aim of having a decentralised regulatory and licensing system to the benefit of small-scale miners or artisanal miners.
“This would birth decentralization in regulating and licensing small scale mining across the country. Friends from the media, what the visionary leader, H.E John Mahama intends doing, is making provisions under the Minerals and Mining Act to grant legal mandate to district mining offices to issue mining licenses.
Admittedly, this would fast track the issuance of licenses and abrogate the powers bestowed on the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and the CEO of Minerals Commission.
In addition, clothing district mining offices with the legal authority to issue licenses would increase the number of licensed small scale mining companies in the country, thereby creating employment for the teeming unemployed youth of this country. We must also emphasize that with the 24-Hour Economy being a policy intervention, John Mahama’s NDC government will implement, once chosen by the Ghanaian people, the district mining offices will also operate 24/7.
This goes to say that the offices would always be open to applications and granting of licenses around the clock. Evidently, this would lift the chokehold on legitimate smallscale mining industries, cause expansion in multiple folds and churn out several employment opportunities in that sector. Already, the artisanal or small-scale mining sector is a source of employment for thousands of people and with this intervention, more Ghanaians would find employment in this sector.
It is also worth noting that this decentralized licensing and regulatory scheme will help increase production of mineral resources in the country.
We are delighted to add that on the issue of ensuring strict adherence to mining laws, robust structures would be put in place to regularize the small scale mining sector by attaching graduates from UMaT to these small scale mining companies purposely to assist and supervise activities hereby ensuring strict compliance to the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2015 (Act 900) and the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995).
He added “As the intellectual wing of the NDC in UMaT, we wish to state unequivocally our elation and embracement of this vision. We find joy in the fact that all graduates of UMaT and Ghanaian youth have a renewed hope in the change that the Nation Builder, H.E John Mahama brings to the table. With John Mahama and the NDC, we have hopes of securing decent employment in firms where our skillset and knowledge will be efficiently utilised to ensure safe and law-compliant processes are undertaken.
Just as mining companies are multifaceted with various functions, we believe many graduates will gain the chance to work under this intervention since experts from various fields will be required for the efficient running and regulation of systems.
Friends from the media, refreshing to hear is the fact that these small scale mining companies would be furnished with incentives to have an enabling environment to work around the clock, obviously as a booster to productivity and employment in the mining industry. The companies will be granted incentives such as cheaper power via the Time of Use tariff system, heightened security, financial support and tax waivers to foster their operation nonstop.
The employment opportunities this policy proposal by H.E John Mahama has are non-negotiable. This intervention, without doubt, is a booster for employment and job creation. In all honesty, the Akuffo Addo/ Bawumia government has no pragmatic solution to providing jobs for the masses.
Their expertise is corruption, hollow sloganeering and putting forth phantom promises to the citizenry. As students, our ultimate goal is to gain decent employment upon completion which this government is unwilling to offer. TEIN UMaT fully endorses and welcomes the idea by H.E John Mahama and with the track record he holds, we trust him to deliver on this and more.
We therefore entreat all our colleagues at the University of Mines and Technology, indigenes of mining areas such as Tarkwa in which we are situated and all Ghanaians at large to rally behind this new vision for the mining industry as spelled out by our flagbearer, H.E John Mahama, by voting overwhelmingly for the NDC in the forthcoming general elections for sustainable and decent paying jobs” Shalom Kennedy-Zumedor submitted.
Explaining the current situation in the country he observed “There is no doubt that Ghana is at a point where unemployment has become the order of the day. The Akuffo Addo/Bawumia NPP government has caused the youth of this country to reel under undeserved hardship as a result of tad corruption, nepotism, reckless expenditure and excessive borrowing. Historically, unemployment, which is a threat to national security, has reached a peak of 14%, according to the Ghana Statistical Service. This historic mess created by the NPP government is not only reflected in mere figures but is also evident in the poor standard of living of Ghanaians and the rise in crime across the country as many unemployed people resort to criminal activities to feed themselves and their dependants”.
He added “The NPP government, led by Akuffo Addo and Bawumia, has proven beyond reasonable doubt that they do not have any solution to reducing the unemployment rate in the country. NABCO, a flagship program of the government, has turned out to be a pipe dream with government owing the trainees salaries of over six months. Planting for Food and Jobs according to an NPP Member of Parliament, Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, is nothing to write home about. As if that wasn’t enough, the Akuffo Addo/Bawumia government, bereft of ideas to create sustainable jobs in the country, spent a staggering 21 billion cedis on collapsing banks when these financial institutions only needed 9 billion cedis as a liquidity support for sustenance. Clearly, the Akuffo Addo/Bawumia government came into office to steal, kill and destroy.
The most distressing of it all is that under this inept government, even students or prospective university graduates in Ghana now have little or no hope of getting employed regardless of their academic degrees and the work they put in.
As students of UMaT, for instance, our future, relative to employment in the public and civil sector is bleak. The Akuffo Addo/Bawumia government, through the finance minister, placed a ban on public and civil sector employment per the 2023 budget, meaning, no graduate from any of the reputable tertiary institutions would be gainfully employed in these sectors. On the back of all this hardship, if there is anything the youth of Ghana need today, it is a renewed hope. We, as young people, crave for a new era where there would be decent jobs for us all to be gainfully employed in a thriving economy. The youth of Ghana want change and this we see in John Dramani Mahama” Shalom Kennedy-Zumedor, the President of TEIN UMaT concluded.
By: Zambaga Rufai Saminu | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
