By Emmanuel Gamson
Takoradi, April 22, GNA – Dr Patrick Ekye Kwesie, the Leader of the Western Nzema Youth League (WNYL), a youth group, says the takeover of the Damang Mines by the Engineers and Planners (E&P) marks a turning point for local empowerment and ownership.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), he stated that the involvement of Ghanaian professionals in the technical and managerial operations of the Damang Mine signaled a major shift towards local capacity building for national development.
He said: “For too long, the narrative has been dominated by foreign expertise and external profit repatriation.
“While international partnerships have their place, the overreliance on them has limited the growth of indigenous knowledge systems and constrained the economic empowerment of local communities.”
Dr Kwesie stated that for decades, gold mining at Damang had generated immense wealth, yet the surrounding communities, particularly in the Wassa enclave, continued to grapple with unemployment, environmental degradation, and underdevelopment.
Ghanaians at the helm, therefore, presented a unique opportunity to build a mining model that prioritised local employment and skills development, technology transfer and innovation, and community-centered investments, he noted.
The WNYL Leader said: “This transition is more than a change in management; it is a symbolic and practical step towards reclaiming control over our resources and redirecting their benefits towards national and local progress.”
Dr Kwesie, thus, called on policymakers and stakeholders to ensure that the Damang Mine became a model for value addition within Ghana, rather than raw export, while ensuring transparent governance and accountability in the resource management.
He also asked the E&P to institute training programmes and entrepreneurship support for the youth in the Western Region.
The youth, he said, should also be included in making decisions, so they became drivers of sustainable development rather than passive observers.
“The Western Nzema Youth League emphasises that resource control must go hand in hand with responsibility, and so we urge the youth to remain vigilant, engaged, and proactive by holding leaders accountable for the equitable use of our resources,” he added.
GNA
Edited by Justina Hilda Paaga/Benjamin Mensah