Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), has thrown his weight behind the government’s decision to award the Damang Mine lease to Engineers and Planners Company Limited (E&P), describing the selection as grounded in merit, financial capacity, and operational experience rather than political preference.
Speaking on TV3’s KeyPoints programme on Saturday, April 11, Tameklo, who is also a prominent figure in the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), argued that mining is a sector that demands proven expertise and cannot be treated as a training ground for inexperienced operators. He praised E&P’s track record as a contractor and the financial backing it secured to qualify for the bid.
Tameklo went further to frame the award in terms of Ghana’s long-standing aspiration to control its own mineral wealth, invoking the legacy of Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah, in describing the development as a historic step in the country’s resource ownership journey. He contrasted the economic conditions of mining cities in South Africa with those of Ghana’s own mining towns as evidence of why local control of large-scale gold operations matters.
The NPA CEO also dismissed allegations that the process was biased or tailored in favour of E&P, stressing that the evaluation was highly competitive, that all participants accepted the governing rules before bidding, and that no bidder had challenged the framework before the process began.
His comments add to a growing chorus of public voices defending the award since the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry announced on April 7, 2026 that the Minerals Commission’s Tender Committee had recommended E&P as the preferred bidder, with a combined technical and financial evaluation score of 93.15 percent. Only two of the four companies that submitted bids by the March 31 deadline met the mandatory requirements; the other two, Maripoma Mining Services Ltd and Vortex Resources Mining Group, were disqualified for failing to submit the required documents, and Heath Goldfields Ltd failed to reach the minimum qualifying technical score of 80 percent.
E&P has served as Damang’s primary mining contractor since 2016 and owns all heavy-duty mining equipment deployed at both the Damang and Tarkwa sites, a factor the Minerals Commission cited as reducing transition risks and ensuring operational continuity. Gold Fields, which operated the mine for more than two decades, explicitly endorsed E&P in a letter dated November 11, 2025, describing the company as highly experienced and deeply familiar with the mine’s operating environment.
The award has nonetheless drawn criticism from the opposition, with the Minority in Parliament questioning the speed of the tender process and raising concerns about a potential conflict of interest given that E&P is owned by Ibrahim Mahama, the younger brother of President John Dramani Mahama. The Minerals Commission has rejected those claims, describing the process as transparent and conducted strictly under the Minerals and Mining (Licensing) Regulations, 2012.
Gold Fields is scheduled to formally transfer the mine to the government on April 18, 2026, with an interim transition team assuming control pending parliamentary formalisation of the new operator arrangement.