The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has warned that Ghana’s forest reserves will be a no-go area for individuals seeking to carry out mining activities under the next NDC government.
He emphasised that the exploration of mineral resources must not come at the expense of preserving the country’s vegetative cover.
He pledged to promote responsible mining and ensure that water bodies polluted by illegal mining activities are restored to their previous state.
Making the remarks during a public lecture at the Christian Service University in Kumasi, the former president said the country’s forest reserves are more precious than any minerals that lie underneath them and will not tolerate any actions that will deplete them.
“I will ban all mining in forest reserves because I believe that many of the trees in the reserves, which are more than 700 years old, are more precious assets than any mineral that lies beneath them.”
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Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, a renowned economist, is advocating for a restructuring of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).
He suggests that COCOBOD’s direct involvement with cocoa farmers should be discontinued, allowing farmers to independently seek out markets to sell their cocoa beans, thereby promoting greater autonomy and profitability for the farmers.
In an interview on Channel One TV‘s The Point of View, Dr. Thompson proposed that cocoa farmers should be empowered to sell their produce independently, earning their own revenue, which would then be subject to taxation, similar to other businesses, promoting economic independence and contributions to the nation’s tax base.
“This is my personal view, I think we need to restructure the whole sector [COCOBOD] in such a way that we leave the cocoa farmers alone, get COCOBOD out of the way. Let them [farmers] make their money and pay taxes, like anybody else, who buys what farmers produce? They find markets, let people do that,” he told host Bernard Avle.
The former Director General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) emphasised that Ghana should diversify its economy by developing other sectors, reducing its heavy reliance on cocoa, and shifting its focus away from the cocoa industry to promote more balanced and sustainable economic growth.
“The issue of standards can all be handled…after 150 years, we should let cocoa go and think of non-cocoa, non-primary commodity sectors…I’m saying leave the cocoa farmers alone, like anybody else, if they need services let them pay for it. There’s so much potential for growing other parts of the economy, let them have their money,” he opined.
He expressed dismay that despite centuries of cocoa production, Ghana has failed to achieve $10 billion in annual cocoa exports, questioning the country’s lack of progress in the industry.
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He added, “For a country like Ghana that is growing, the average that we get for cocoa loans is $1.5 billion the highest I have seen is $2 billion, what is that for a population of 31 million? We depended on it so much. In the past, even our budget cycle was structured around when cocoa-syndicated loans were coming in, and they are insignificant.
“By now, we should be doing about $10 billion through some exports- value-added, we call them strategic exports in the 40-year national development plan. In fact, we are talking about cocoa as a basis for economic strategy. It reflects a lack of vision on our part.”
