Agyapa deal transparent – Ofori-Atta responds to Amidu

The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, insists that his ministry duly supervised the processes leading to the approval of the Agyapa Royalties Agreement in Parliament.

This comes on the back of a directive from President Akufo-Addo to the Finance Ministry to return the deal to Parliament for further scrutiny.

This development is as a result of the findings of a corruption risk assessment report by Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu that was sent to the Presidency.

In the report, the Special Prosecutor intimated that the selection and appointment of advisors for the agreement did not meet the “fundamentals of probity, transparency, and accountability.”

But Mr. Ofori-Atta in a memo explained that, “This Ministry believes that it has been transparent from the onset.

“Once Government had independently assessed the potential value of the Transaction to Ghana, and Cabinet had approved the policy to monetize future gold royalties to support current developmental projects, MoF included in the 2018 Budget and Economic Policy Statement, Government’s intention to leverage the future wealth of Ghana’s gold resources to support current developmental needs.”

The Agyapa Deal was passed by Parliament on August 14, 2020.

The new agreement will enable the country to use a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Agyapa Royalties Limited, to secure about $1 billion to finance large infrastructural projects, in line with the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) Act 2018 (Act 978).

The Agyapa deal was met with strong opposition from the National Democratic Congress and other civil society organisations (CSOs).

Subsequently, President Akufo-Addo asked that the deal is withdrawn and sent back to Parliament, pending investigations by the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu.