Henry Osei Akoto, a leading member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the party's 2020 parliamentary candidate for the Oforikrom constituency, has said that it is suicidal for any company to enter an agreement with Ghana within this period.

According to him, given the current political climate and the proximity to the 2024 elections, signing deals will be detrimental to the state.

In October 2023, the government of Ghana went into an agreement with Barari DV Ghana Limited, to mine lithium at Ewoyaa in the Central Region.

When the deal was signed, institutions like the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) criticised the government on the nature of the deal.

This is beyond the fact that the government maintains that the deal with Barari and the conditionalities attached to it is the best in the world.

The IEA believes that Ghana stands to gain more in royalties if the deal is properly negotiated.

Reacting to this to GhanaWeb, Henry Osei Akoto pointed at the perceived lack of transparency and consistency in the government's handling of the lithium deal.

He cautioned against moving forward with any agreement, especially considering the proximity to upcoming elections in 2024.

“It will be suicidal to enter into any agreement with the country looking at the number of months left before our elections. Again, the government has not been so transparent with the deal. There have been a lot of inconsistencies too, looking at how their MoU and everything surrounding it is being done,” he stated.

In addition to transparency concerns, Osei Akoto raised issues about the absence of proper stakeholder engagements with the local communities around Ewoyaa and Mfansteman.

He expressed scepticism about the deal and suggested that there might be questionable aspects yet to be addressed.

Osei Akoto added that, besides, the likelihood that the next NDC government might cancel the deal if it finds it necessary is there to be explored.

“Also, there hasn't been a proper stakeholder engagement with the people around the Ewoyaa or Mfantiman. There are a lot of fishy things around. So, it is a warning to the company that went into that deal with the government.

"I will not be surprised when that deal is cancelled when the next NDC government is formed,” he added.

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