Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and Member of Parliament for Damongo constituency, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has raised red flags over the government’s decision to reintroduce the Ewoyaa lithium mining lease agreement, a deal that was vehemently rejected by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) when he first attempted to lay it before Parliament, as the then Minister for Lands and Natural Resources in 2024.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament, the Damongo MP reminded the House that, as Minister, he was the one who initially presented the Ewoyaa lithium lease between the Government of Ghana and Barari DV Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Atlantic Lithium Limited, for parliamentary consideration in 2024.

“The unsuccessful effort we made in the 8th Parliament to lay a similar agreement for the exploitation of our lithium resources between the same two parties — the Government of Ghana and Barari DV,” he reminded the house.

He further noted that the explanatory statement made by the current Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Armah Kofi Buah, mirrors a similar statement he made when he first introduced the agreement in 2024.

“The explanatory statement made by the current Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, the terms of it, the terms of the explanatory statement, is not fundamentally different from the terms of the explanatory statement I made in this House as Minister for Lands and Natural Resources,” Jinapor emphasised.

Under the original deal laid by Abu Jinapor, the government secured several key benefits, including a 10% royalty rate, double the standard rate for other minerals. A 13% free carried interest for the state and additional equity through the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF). The government was also to get a 1% community development fund and a commitment toward local lithium processing and value addition.

At the time, the then-opposition NDC Minority strongly opposed the deal, arguing that it did not serve Ghana’s best interests and needed to be renegotiated. Now in government, however, the NDC has resubmitted the same agreement, with minimal revisions, and is reportedly using the same explanatory statement that Jinapor presented in 2024 — the one they previously criticised.

Abu Jinapor urged the Speaker to reject the laying of the lithium mining agreement, describing the move as inconsistent and politically contradictory.

“Respectfully, I pray this laying be overruled and rejected. Mr Speaker, I have the various components that the Minister has submitted to this house as being the fundamental terms of the agreement between the same two parties. Mr Speaker, the terms are fundamentally not different.”

He reiterated, “Mr Speaker, therefore, what applied to that agreement in the 8th Parliament, which fortunately was the same Speaker in the chair and which culminated in the rejection of the attempt to lay that agreement, Mr Speaker, the same should apply.”

He reaffirmed his opposition to the laying with a question of, “What has changed in the agreement between the government of Ghana and Barari DV and the terms of the agreement in 2025?”

The indications are that the current agreement has a lower royalty rate than the one negotiated for in 2024, a situation which makes industry players worried.

The Ewoyaa project, located in the Mfantseman Municipality of the Central Region, represents Ghana’s first major lithium mining operation and is seen as a gateway to the country’s participation in the global green minerals value chain.