The Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Nana Baffour Awuah, has criticised the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for what he describes as a repeated pattern of pegging nearly all major projects at $10 billion.

His comments come in the wake of discussions following the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry’s statement that about $10 billion would be required to effectively tackle illegal mining and restore degraded lands.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Tuesday, October 14, Mr Awuah questioned how the party arrives at such figures, suggesting it has become a recurring trend.

“To begin, how did they arrive at that figure? It appears that the NDC seems to be very fixated on the figure 10 billion,” he said. “Anytime they quote a figure for a project in this country, they are looking for 10 billion dollars — Hope City, 10 billion dollars; Big Push, 10 billion dollars; and now they want 10 billion dollars to fix galamsey.”

The MP argued that rather than fixating on figures, attention should be directed toward ensuring responsible mining and maximising the country’s economic gains from the extractive sector.

“I am of the view that all we need is to ensure that there is responsible mining and we are getting the economic benefit that we should get from mining,” he explained.

Mr Awuah also accused the NDC of inconsistency, claiming their approach appears politically driven.

“The NDC clearly and obviously has been contradictory, has been inconsistent, and it was all aimed at getting political power. That is all that the picture seems now, and it is obvious,” he added.