18th March, 2026
HON. KWAKU AMPRATWUM-SARPONG
MP FOR MAMPONG
RANKING MEMBER
COMMITTEE ON LANDS AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Dear Sir,
REJOINDER: ONE YEAR OF STATE CAPTURE: HOW IBRAHIM MAHAMA IS RUNNING GHANA’S MINERAL SECTOR- A NATIONAL CAUTION TO PRESIDENT MAHAMA
*INTRODUCTION
- I have read the Public Statement dated 18th March 2026 which is attributed to you, for and on behalf of the Minority Caucus of the Parliament of Ghana. As a Ghanaian Citizen who has lived in Ghana all my life, I feel obliged to respond to the public statements which have been attributed to you.
My urge to respond to this statement stems from the hypocrisy which stinks all over your statement. Hon, I am not sure how many of your colleagues consented to and/or read the statements attributed to you. At least, one of them ought to have pointed out to you that you began your statement on the wrong foot. There is no year as “206”. Unless of course, the citation of this statement as having been issued on 18th March 206, is actually reflection of your true state of mind, when you issued this statement; i.e. a mind that is indeed a relic and as old as the year 206.
For ease of reference, I will serialize my responses as follows:
*THE CAPTURE OF INSTITUTIONS: WHO REALLY RUNS THE SECTOR
- You claim that Dr. Ibrahim Mahama is running the Mineral Sector and you claim this is state capture. Hon, we were in this same Ghana when the owner of a Financial Institution (i.e. Databank) was made the Minister of State in charge of the Finances of this Country with regulatory oversight over financial institutions. This Minister, who is now seeking asylum in the United States of America, collapsed his competitors in that space at a cost that almost derailed our economy. This Minister’s Bank made lots of money from operating as a Book Runner for almost all of the international financial arrangement involving the Government of Ghana. Hon, did you issue any public Statement at the time accusing the then President Akuffo Addo of State Capture?
- Hon, you claim that persons who had worked with Engineers & Planners (E&P) in the past are holding public offices and you find the situation troubling. In your write up, you have not stated anywhere that the persons who hold these offices do not qualify to be there. You have not stated that they have not worked in any other places before or after working with E&P. So where exactly is the crime for knowing Ibrahim Mahama? Hon, were you in this Country when the likes of Dr. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, partner of Ken Ofori Atta was put in charge of sensitive State entities under the control of the Ministry of Finance (i.e. Securities and Exchanges Commission)? Did you issue any public statement at that time?
- I find your accusation that Dr. Ibrahim Mahama controls the Minerals Commission as very nauseating. When NDC won power in 2024, Mr. Martin Ayisi, who was the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission remained at post for over 12 months. He was appointed by President Nana Addo but remained in office after 12 months of President Mahama assuming the reigns of power. Was Mr. Martin Ayisi, who was appointed by President Addo, doing the bidding of Dr. Ibrahim Mahama at the time?
- Hon, unlike what Ghana experienced between 2017 and 2024, Dr. Ibrahim Mahama has not collapsed the business of any competitor. He has not been appointed a Minister of State. He has not appointed any person to any public office. No relative of his has been appointed to any public office that regulates the mining industry.
*DAMANG: A STRATEGIC NATIONAL ASSET IN THE SHADOWS
- Hon, I am not sure if you have ever stepped into a large scale mine and/or taken time to understand mine operations. If you have, then it makes your statement more demeaning of someone with that level of exposure on how mines operate.
- Damang is indeed a strategic national asset but nothing about it has been in the shadows. Abosso Goldfields was issued with a lease by the Government of Ghana. Per the terms of that lease agreement, Abosso Goldfields may apply for a renewal of the lease at least 3 months prior to the expiry of the original lease term. Instead of Abosso Goldfields applying to renew the lease, it served a notice of demobilization to the Government indicating that it was no longer interested in the concession. Pursuant to this notice of demobilization, E&P engaged Goldfields and the Minerals Commission in 2023 to take over the mine after the expiry of the lease term. Hon, so it is not the case that the Government of Ghana refused to renew the lease.
- E&P’s desire to acquire the assets dates back to 2023, when your party was in power. Indeed, by a letter dated 12th March 2024, the Minister appointed by your Party, Hon Abu Jinapor, gave E&P a Letter of No Objection letter to acquire the mine from Goldfields after the latter had written formally to demobilize and cease operations. After Goldfields had acquiesced to E&P incurring the cost of obtaining the No Objection Letter, Goldfields now sought to apply for a renewal of the lease, long after the 3 months’ notice period had lapsed. The Minister, in line with the lease and applicable law, decided not to entertain the application for renewal as same was not accommodated by the lease and the applicable law.
- To avoid the catastrophe of the Government losing revenue and loss of employment with its rippling effects on the economy if the mine shuts down, E&P decided to step into the gap and engaged Goldfields to acquire the mines. In line with statutory prescriptions, E&P applied for and obtained a No Objection Letter to pursue this ambition from the Minister appointed by your government. Was your Minister doing the bidding of John Mahama when he issued the No objection letter to E&P in March 2024?
- If you do not know, E&P has been working in Damang since 2002. It was issued with a contract to mine the concession on behalf of Goldfields in 2017, when the NPP was in power. E&P was issued with the contract when the brother of the owner of the company was not in political power and so there could not have been any political influence. It was purely based on E&P’s operational, technical and financial capacity to maximize the operation of the mine.
- Now, if you as a Parliamentarian seeks information on any happenings in any public sector, one would have expected that you would have applied to that Public Entity under the Right To Information (RTI) Act to seek the necessary information. You chose the path of playing to the gallery, which has unfortunately exposed you to public ridicule. Hon, there has been media reports of correspondence from Goldfields recommending E&P to continue to operate the mine after April 18 2026. These reports have referred to dated letters on this subject. These reports have referred to a Transition Team and its members ensuring that the mine does not stop operating after April 18. Is it that you did not read anything at all on this before going to press or it was just a matter of your attempting to muddy the waters for E&P?
- Sir, there is no worker or Supplier at Damang who does not know who the operator will be after April 18. There is no one at the Minerals Commission who does not know who the operator will be after April 18. There is therefore no uncertainty as to who the mine operator will be after April 18 2026. Maybe you are the only newcomer in Ghana. But if you truly desired this information, why did you not simply apply to the Minerals Commission or the Ministry of Lands under the RTI Law for that information. You could have quietly cured your ignorance.
- There is a difference between the Operator of the Mine and the Owner of the Mine. Government has not yet issued any statement on who the Government will lease the mine to. The constitution and other applicable laws provide for the Ministry to lay any such lease to Parliament for ratification. Hon, unless you are saying that Government has issued a lease in respect of the Damang Mine without Parliamentary ratification, your public statement, in all humility, is nothing but an empty pre-mature rant.
*THE BLACK VOLTA EPISODE: A CASE STUDY IN EMERGING STATE CAPTURE
- Hon, any iota of giving you the benefit of doubt was eroded when you sought to introduce the Black Volta Transaction into this discussion. You claim that there were subtle threats directed at the original holders of Black Volta to relinquish control because Ibrahim Mahama’ brother is now President. Eiiiii Hon, you can lie oooooo. So did you not read and hear that Bright’s Simons theory about this Black Volta, which you now trumpet so shamelessly, was dismantled on Newsfile on Joy FM. Documents which became public show that the NDC Government had no hand in the acquisition of the Black Volta by Dr. Ibrahim Mahama. The agreement to acquire Black Volta started in 2022 and was signed in 2023 and payments started in 2023. The ECOWAS Bank agreed to fund the acquisition in 2024. The Ministry of Lands issued a No Objection Letter in 2023. Was John Mahama President in 2023 and 2024? How could he have influenced the acquisition of the mine and the decision of the ECOWAS BANK to finance the acquisition when he had not political power. Even the Creditors of the Black Volta, who frustrated the acquisition, never claimed that they were forced to relinquish their interest in the mine. Stop the lies Hon!
*THE EXPANDING INFLUENCE OF DR. IBRAHIM MAHAMA
- If “Who Jah Bless, no one curse” is a person, it would be Ibrahim Mahama. He has since 1997, built a first-class mining company with footprints in Ghana, Liberia, Mauritania, Zambia and Congo. His company is able to obtain Financial Credit that Banks and Governments cannot obtain. E&P has never applied for any government of Ghana contract to supply any item for money or provide services for money, either when his brother is in or out of power. He has said on many occasions that because of accusations like the one you are now trumpeting, his businesses always suffer unnecessary scrutiny when his brother is in political office.
- He did not run away from Ghana when his brother lost elections in 2016. He was not convicted of any crime. He has not been shamed. God continues to be his shield, his glory and the lifter of his head. Hon, if you are worried about Baba’s (as he is affectionately called) influence in Ghana, wait until you see his influence in the world. Indeed, I dare you to check within your own NPP. Dr. Ibrahim Mahama has more influence in your party than you can ever dream of.
- You are the only one that sees a problem with the success of a Ghanaian and you have clothed your jealousy and hate in the form of an objective critique of his business dealings. We have seen through your lies. You are a charade.
*OTHER SUBHEADINGS
- Hon, the rest of your statements which I have not responded to do not deserve a separate response. You simply said nothing worth a separate response beyond what is contained above. You were just blabbing with no substance or proper rationale for your allegations.
*CONCLUSION
- In conclusion, your statement is exactly what you claim it is not. Your statement is an incoherent abstract concern, a baseless partisan alarm and an attempt to despise who or what you cannot become. You simply hate that a fellow Ghanaian is doing what no member of your party has the capacity to do. You are reminding me of Dr. JB Danquah, who, to cover his incapacity to led the charge for independence in Ghana, wrote letters to frustrate Nkrumah’s attempt to gain independence for Ghana.
- A lot of Ghanaians including myself, see Dr. Ibrahim Mahama’s effort as an attempt to achieve economic independence in respect of the control of our natural resources. After so many years, we have a Ghanaian who has the capacity to acquire a large scale mine and keep all the revenues accruing from the operation of the mine in Ghana. That person, whether he is Green or Blue, Umbrella or Elephant, needs our collective support. After all, his success, will be the success of Ghana as his employees and third party contractees will not be selected based on Party Colors or tribal affiliation.
- May the good Lord, who has delivered us from oppressors’ rule in 2024, keep us focused on fostering unity, oneness and love among each other instead of blinded partisan schemes aimed at pulling down one of our own simply because his brother is a President!
JOHN DOE,
MAMPONG
