President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that government will soon re-engage Parliament on the forward for the Agyapa Royalties Deal.
Delivering his State of the Nation (SONA) on Tuesday March 9, Akufo-Addo assured the controversial deal that failed to see the light of day in the 7th Parliament will be resurrected in the 8th Parliament.
About 15 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) under the umbrella name Alliance of CSOs working on Extractive, Anti-Corruption and Good Governance also demanded the immediate suspension of the implementation of the controversial Special Purpose Vehicle, Agyapa Royalties Limited established by government though the Minerals Income Investment Fund.
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu’s Corruption Risk Assessment on Agyapa deal also raised red flags over the deal, describing the deal as fraught with corruption.
In November 2020, the President directed then Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to send the deal back to Parliament after the Assessment.
Office of the Special Prosecutor.
The Special Prosecutor in a statement issued Monday [November 2, 2020] announced that he had completed the corruption risk assessment about two weeks ago and submitted his report to the presidency.
Background
In 2018, Parliament passed the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act, 2018 which establishes the fund to manage the equity interests of Ghana in mining companies and receive royalties on behalf of the government. The purpose of the fund is to manage and invest these royalties and revenue from equities for higher returns for the benefit of the country.
The government then, through the Minerals Income Investments Fund(MIIF), set up Agyapa Royalties Limited to monetize Ghana’s gold royalties. This was after Parliament on August 14, 2020, approved the Agyapa Mineral Royalty Limited agreement with the government of Ghana despite the walkout by the minority.
In exchange, the company plans to raise between $500 million and up to about $1 billion for the government on the Ghana and London Stock Exchanges to invest in developmental projects.
The deal, however, has become a topical issue following concerns first by the opposition National Democratic Congress leading up to the December 2020 general elections.
On August 14, 2020, a few days after approving an amendment to the MIIF Act, the Minority walked out during the approval process of the very transaction agreements, the facilitation of which the amendment to the Fund’s statute was amended.
Civil society groups quickly added their voices to the opposition, describing the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), being created then, Agyapa Royalties of Jersey, as not being transparent, potentially corrupt, under valued and that it must be suspended for greater stakeholder involvement, according to some of the dissenting voice.
The government has however insisted that the deal is in the best interest of the country. The President, last year, directed the Finance Minister and Attorney General to review the transaction agreements and make necessary adjustment to address some of the concerns raised by stakeholders, where appropriate.
