For instance, he says the recent aggressive approach adopted by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the illegal mining fight had proven unsustainable.

That, he said, had only helped to worsen the situation and made political actors and their task force teams profited from the arrangement.

It was in the light of this that, he want ministers, government appointees and officials to stay away from the mining industry, if they were interested in being part of his government, when he is re-elected.

Speaking at the third annual Transformational Dialogue on small-scale mining at Fiapre near Sunyani on Wednesday [May 15, 2024] on the theme: "Charting our courtesy mining vision and the future of illegal mining," Mr Mahama argued that the Illegal mining 'fight' approach by the NPP government was "unsustainable." 

No minister of state, government appointee or official will be allowed

Mr Mahama said when he is re-elected as president, no minister of state, government appointee or official will be allowed to venture into the mining sector.

He explained that in his government, if you were a minister of state or a metropolitan, municipal, district chief executive or a government official and you undertook mining activity, he would ask you to resign and concentrate on your mining activity. 

“You either choose to be a public officer, or choose to be a business person in the mining industry,” Mr Mahama said.

Gold for oil

Mr Mahama said the next NDC government would investigate the "Gold for Oil deal" to expose the people benefiting from this "so-called barter agreement.

“We will investigate the Gold and Oil programme and expose the actors benefiting from this so-called barter agreement.

“Reports reaching me suggest that a new debt burden is being created because Ghana has not been able to keep up with it's delivery of gold under the programme,” he said.