Mahama was the biggest obstacle to Ibrahim’s Damang Mine bid – Felix Kwakye Ofosu

Government spokesperson and Abura Asebu-Kwamankese MP, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has strongly rejected allegations that President John Dramani Mahama influenced the process that led to the awarding of the Damang Mine lease to Engineers & Planners (E&P), a company linked to the President’s brother, Ibrahim Mahama.

Speaking during an interview on PM Express with journalist Evans Mensah on Monday, Mr Kwakye Ofosu argued that President Mahama deliberately distanced himself from all Cabinet deliberations concerning the Damang Mine lease in order to avoid any conflict of interest.

According to him, the President’s conduct throughout the process demonstrated transparency and ethical leadership rather than interference.

“On the contrary, I will argue that the biggest obstacle to E&P taking that mine was the President,” Mr Kwakye Ofosu stated during the interview.

He explained that the matter first came before Cabinet when the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources informed members that the Damang mining lease was nearing expiration and that government had decided not to renew it automatically.

Mr Kwakye Ofosu revealed that President Mahama immediately recused himself from the Cabinet meeting where the issue was discussed because of his brother’s association with Engineers & Planners.

“At the Cabinet meeting that considered the Damang mining lease, the President recused himself. He did not sit in that meeting,” he disclosed.

When questioned by Evans Mensah on the reason behind the President’s decision, the government spokesperson said Mahama considered it the ethically appropriate course of action.

“Because he believed it was the right ethical thing to do. We did not want a situation where it would appear that he was superintending over a decision involving an entity in which his brother had an interest,” he explained.

He further noted that the Vice President chaired the Cabinet session in Mahama’s absence to ensure neutrality and fairness in the decision-making process.

Mr Kwakye Ofosu also disclosed that Cabinet rejected any attempt at a direct allocation of the mining concession and instead insisted on a competitive bidding process to determine which company would eventually secure the lease.

“I think we will struggle to find an instance where a competitive process has been used to award the lease of a mining concession in Ghana,” he said.

According to him, Cabinet records would show that members strongly advocated for transparency and accountability by ensuring multiple companies had the opportunity to compete for the concession.

He maintained that President Mahama consistently recused himself whenever discussions relating to the Damang Mine resurfaced before Cabinet and therefore played no direct role in the final outcome.

“The President was not part of the decision-making and did not stampede the process,” he stressed.

Mr Kwakye Ofosu argued that if government truly intended to favour Engineers & Planners, authorities could have bypassed the competitive process entirely and awarded the concession directly to the company.

“We could simply have handed over to E&P without any competitive process, but Cabinet insisted that a competitive process be used,” he added.

He further stated that the committee responsible for overseeing the process publicly explained how the selection exercise was conducted and clarified why some companies qualified while others did not.

The government spokesperson also pointed out that Parliament would still have the constitutional responsibility to scrutinise and ratify the lease agreement before it becomes fully binding.

Defending the integrity of the Cabinet process, Mr Kwakye Ofosu said ministers openly expressed opposing views during deliberations and that discussions were rigorous rather than ceremonial.

“The debate at Cabinet that day was rigorous. People voiced their views frankly, without fear or favour,” he stated.

“There was no rubber-stamp decision at that place.”

He concluded by insisting that claims suggesting President Mahama handed the Damang Mine concession to his brother’s company were inaccurate and misleading.

“If you say that the President handed over to his brother, I would even agree that the President was the biggest stumbling block to E&P’s acquisition of the Damang Mine,” he concluded.