The Country Manager of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), Patrick Stephenson, has raised concerns over the rapid ministerial approval of the Damang mining lease awarded to Engineers and Planners Ltd.

He was answering a question that the Lands Minister had received the recommendations from the Tender Committee and had proceeded to approve the award of the Damang Mining deal to Engineering and Planners within a very short time frame of just two hours.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story, Mr Stephenson noted that the decision—granted barely two hours after a Tender Committee submitted its recommendations—was unusually swift and could raise transparency concerns.

"So it's definitely an interesting development, I mean, because the presumption would be that once the report was published or publicised to the minister, there would be a bit of a pouring in the reports and subsequent adoption of the recommendations.

"If it's coming very quickly, I guess in some cases, somebody may flag that up as a potential area that needs to be looked at, but I guess it's part of the process or assessment for determining who ultimately gets to procure and who needs the license or any kind of agreement that's gone through the tender process... But I think two hours is a little too quick, and it may give cause for worry,” he said.

Mr Stephenson argued that Ghana’s mineral licensing process typically involves multiple layers of oversight, including technical committees, procurement bodies and ministerial approval. He described the post-recommendation phase as a “black box” and stressed the need for public access to assessment data to enhance accountability.

“We would like to see that the results of this work—the assessment—are published, not just the decision of the minister,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources stated that Engineers and Planners Ltd. was awarded the Damang mining lease following what it described as a rigorous and competitive tender process.

According to the Ministry, the Tender Committee, established under the Minerals and Mining (Licensing) Regulations, recommended Engineers and Planners Ltd. as the top bidder based on technical capacity, financing and proposals to extend the mine’s lifespan.

Out of four companies that submitted bids, only Engineers and Planners Ltd. and one other met the mandatory requirements, while the remaining bidders were disqualified or failed the technical evaluation.

The Ministry further directed the Minerals Commission to complete all regulatory processes to formalise the lease and reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that the Damang mine continues to contribute significantly to Ghana’s economy.