Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has pledged to work toward handing over abandoned pits of AngloGold Ashanti Limited to the constituents of Obuasi East and Obuasi West, aiming to boost local involvement in the mining sector. He announced this initiative during a tour of the constituencies.
Dr. Bawumia’s tour included stops in Obuasi East, Obuasi West, and Akrofuom constituencies. These three constituencies, located within the same enclave, have shown consistent support for the NPP.
The NPP has its strongest backing in Obuasi West, where the party’s presidential candidate led by a margin of over 21,000 votes in the 2020 election. Obuasi East followed closely with a margin of over 15,000 votes. Meanwhile, in Akrofuom, the NPP won by a narrower margin of just 3,659 votes.
Dr. Bawumia expressed optimism about maintaining the support of these constituencies.
During his visit to Akrofuom, the regent of the traditional area thanked the NPP government for elevating the constituency’s status to a district.
In Obuasi East, Dr Bawumia highlighted the NPP government’s achievements, asserting that their record surpassed that of the NDC despite economic challenges.
Campaigning in Obuasi West, Dr Bawumia recognised the community’s rich resources and announced that his administration would negotiate with AngloGold Ashanti to transfer ownership of abandoned mining pits to local community members.
“We are going to introduce initiatives where we issue licences. We want to give you community-mining schemes. We will negotiate with the whites to acquire the areas they do not use to create a community-mining site for small-scale miners in Obuasi West and East.
“The Geological Survey Authority will indicate where gold is and that is where we will establish the community mining schemes for you. We will establish a Mineral Development Bank which will support you with laws to purchase equipment for you to practice proper mining. We are going to do responsible mining. I am going to make you millionaires”
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