Ghana's gold enriching only foreigners – Nduom

The founder and leader of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, has criticised the leaders of Ghana for creating avenues that enrich foreigners at the expense of Ghanaians, as far as the country's rich mineral resources are concerned.

Dr Nduom believes the country is blessed with several natural resources, which should elevate the status of Ghanaians from poverty through proper management, but the situation has remained so due to bad leadership.

“We do have a peculiar problem in Ghana: diamond, big problem; gold, big problem; manganese, the same; bauxite just as well; all of them, big problem. And what is this big problem that I am talking about? God has given us all these, we did not put them there, your vice-chancellor did not put them there. Akwatia, Tarkwa, Obuasi, Kenyase, Konongo, you go around, go to the North, Upper East, gold is all over, we did not put them there, God did, but who did God give them to? He gave them to you and [me], but who owns them? Sometimes the British or Australians, sometimes South Africans, but they don’t seem to be Ghanaians, so, if we have these natural resources, why should they make us poor but not rich?” he questioned.

He made these comments during an interaction with students of the University of Energy and Natural Resources.

Dr Nduom believes education should inspire the youth to be agents of positive change. He challenged the university students to use their knowledge to transform society and move the country from its current poor state.

“Of what use will your education be from here if you don’t become an agent for change? Here is the entrepreneurial angle: how do we figure out how we can become owners, directors, shareholders of our natural resource extraction and developmental organisations, so that the natural resource can benefit Ghanaians,” he noted.