MISTER_JAYY

The Lithium deal. 1. I have taken my time to read over and over again, the statement the NDC issued on the lithium deal just 2 years ago. I have attached it so you can also read it for yourself. 2. Despite its sharp objections while in opposition, the NDC has now adopted fiscal and regulatory terms for Ghana’s lithium that mirror, and in some respects weaken, the same features it previously denounced. 3. In 2023, the party argued that a 10 percent royalty undervalued a strategic green mineral and insisted on stronger value-addition and firmer national control of the value chain. 4. The new arrangement settles on a 5 percent royalty and retains many of the structural gaps the NDC itself highlighted. This shift reflects a broader governance issue that this Country has to recover from or we doomed for generations to come. Parties campaign on principled positions but often revert to the same constrained policy choices once in office. 5. The core problem is that both the earlier deal and the revised version fail to position Ghana to maximise long-term value. The royalty structure remains low for a mineral of rising global importance. 6. Local processing commitments are non-mandatory, risking a repeat of the raw-export model. Fiscal safeguards against transfer pricing and long-term revenue leakage remain weak. And the broader legal framework still treats lithium like any bulk mineral. 7. At this point, I am beginning to see signs that concern me. The NDC is failing itself to principles it set for itself. We have seen disturbing reversal of positions on no post retirement contract extensions; on protection of religious minorities in schools and now this. 8. It is only 11 months in. Only 11 months. A slippery slippery slope. I have seen Governments fail a thousand times in this town. It always starts like this. When lies are treated as casual. Policy positions changed in a way that damage credibility. Be careful! Power is arrogant!