Minority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin has demanded the immediate resignation of the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, accusing him of gross incompetence and bad faith over what he described as embarrassing flip-flopping on the lithium agreement laid before Parliament.
According to Afenyo-Markin, the Minister’s handling of the lithium deal has exposed serious governance failures, a lack of transparency, and contempt for parliamentary scrutiny.
Addressing journalists in Parliament on Monday, the Minority Leader said the Lands Minister cannot escape responsibility after first vigorously defending the agreement on the floor of the House, only to later withdraw it under pressure from the Minority and civil society groups.
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“This is not consultation; this is confusion. You cannot defend an agreement today, attack the Minority for questioning it, and tomorrow quietly withdraw it. That alone is enough grounds for resignation,” Afenyo-Markin declared.
The Minority accused the Minister of misleading Parliament by presenting the agreement as fully vetted, only to later admit that further consultations were required.
According to them, this contradiction undermines Parliament’s integrity and raises serious questions about the government’s commitment to transparency in the management of Ghana’s strategic natural resources.
“If further consultation was needed, why was the agreement rushed to Parliament in the first place? Was Parliament being used as a testing ground?” the Minority asked.
Afenyo-Markin said the controversy surrounding the lithium agreement is not a minor procedural issue but a fundamental policy failure with long-term implications for Ghana’s resource sovereignty.
The Minority particularly questioned the reported reduction in royalty rates and the lack of clarity on local value addition, revenue protection, and environmental safeguards.
“Lithium is a strategic mineral for the future. You do not gamble with it. You do not improvise with it. You certainly do not treat Parliament with this level of disrespect,” he said.
The Minority accused the government of attempting to push the agreement through quietly until public pressure forced a retreat, describing the withdrawal as a tactical move rather than an act of accountability.
“This was not transparency by choice; it was transparency by force,” Afenyo-Markin charged.
He warned that allowing the Lands Minister to remain in office despite what he called a clear policy misadventure would set a dangerous precedent and embolden further abuse of parliamentary process.
The Minority called on President John Dramani Mahama to act decisively by relieving the Minister of his post to restore public confidence.
“Accountability begins at the top. If this government is serious about responsible resource governance, the Lands Minister must go,” the Minority Leader insisted.
The Minority pledged to continue interrogating all resource-related agreements and resist what they described as opaque and hurried deals that short-change the Ghanaian people.
“Our minerals belong to the people of Ghana, not to ministers experimenting with bad agreements,” Afenyo-Markin stressed.