President Akufo-Addo with board members of the Integrated Steel and Iron Development Corporation Board
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has inaugurated a nine-member board of the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDC) with a task to ensure there is equitable distribution of mineral resources.
He said the current arrangement does not favour the people whose resources are being harnessed and there is the need to prioritize them in the scheme of affairs.
After administering the oaths of Office and Secrecy, the President said that for too long, Ghana’s natural resources had been exploited by foreigners and the time had come for that trend to cease.
“In several other areas, whether it is gold or diamond or whatever, our direct take from them is largely minimal and nominal; we want to change that narrative and that is why we have brought the nine of you together to spearhead this new era in the country’s development,” he stressed.
“You can imagine the significance of Ghana being able to produce steel itself without having to import it or depend on others; you can imagine the implications that will have in driving the industrial development of our nation,” he added.
The President cautioned members of the board to appreciate the fact that they had been elevated to the high office not for their personal benefit but wholly for the sake of the people of Ghana, saying “you have not been put there for your own personal benefits and welfare.”
On his part, the Chairman of the GIISDC Governing Board, Prince Andani Imoro, said they understood the task ahead, for which reason they would live up to the trust and work to make sure that things happen.
Having been passed by Parliament, the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation Act 2019 (Act 988) was assented to by the President on May 13, 2019.
Other members of the board are Kwabena Bonsu Fordwor, Chief Executive Officer of the corporation; Augustus Kwasi Adu, representative from Ministry of Finance; Matthew Tawiah Ababio, representative from Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, and Patrick Yaw Nimo, representative from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The rest are Kwaku Addai Antwi-Boasiako, Chief Executive Officer of Minerals Commission; John Ntim Fordjour, Kwamina Archer Frimpong, and Ms. Hanifa Yahaya, the only female member of the board.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent