Agyapa deal already approved by NPP Majority – Ato Forson reveals

Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has disclosed that the Agyapa Royalties deal has not been taken out of parliament since it was approved by the NPP Majority in the 7th Parliament.

He explained that since the deal was passed by the NPP Majority of the 7th Parliament because the NDC Minority boycotted the proceedings and walked out of parliament, the decision has not been rescinded despite President Akufo-Addo’s instruction to the Finance Minister to take the deal back to parliament.

“The NPP Majority in the 7th Parliament approved it, they have not come back to rescind the decision. So, as it is, the government if they want, can go ahead with it. They are actually failing to go out to implement the Agyapa deal because of the public outcry; because of the various petitions that we have written against the Agyapa deal. So, the deal as it stands has been approved by parliament by the NPP Majority alone because the NDC Minority boycotted and walked out of parliament. The NPP Majority approved that Agyapa deal and have not rescinded the decision as we speak now,” Dr Ato Forson said.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday, March 9, during his first State of the Nation’s Address of his second term, said: “In the course of this session of parliament, government will come back to engage the House on the steps it intends to take on the future of the Agyapa transaction.”

The agreement, which was approved by the Seventh Parliament on Friday, August 14, 2020, but President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo directed the Minister of Finance to take the Agyapa Royalties deal back to parliament after a corruption-risk assessment was conducted by Martin Alamisi Amidu, the then Special Prosecutor.

The Agyapa Minerals Royalties Investment Agreement was to allow for the monetisation of Ghana’s future gold royalties.

Under the agreement, Agyapa Mineral Royalties Limited has been incorporated in Jersey, to receive and manage royalties from 16 gold mining leases over the next 15 years.

In exchange, the firm will list on the London and Ghana Stock Exchanges later this year and raise at least $500 million for government to invest in infrastructure, health and education.

The listing will allow private people to buy a 49 per cent stake in the firm.

However, some 22 civil society organisations called for a suspension of the deal, insisting it was not in the interest of Ghana.