The largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has vowed to investigate what it describes as the stinky $12 million Agyapa Gold Royalties Monetisation Transaction known as the Agyapa deal.
According to the National Communications Officer of the party, Sammy Gyamfi, the next NDC government will take legal action against government officials and individuals implicated in the controversial deal.
During a ‘Moment of Truth’ series in Accra on Monday, February 19, Mr Gyamfi, accused the government and its associates of misappropriating funds, labelling the deal as fraudulent and detrimental to the nation’s development prospects.
He urged Ghanaian electorates to vote overwhelmingly for John Mahama and the NDC to hold the Akufo-Addo administration accountable for alleged corruption.
“My brothers and sisters, I have the full blessing of H.E John Dramani Mahama to inform you and by extension the good people of Ghana, that the next NDC government will investigate the stinky $12 million ‘Agyapa’ scam, retrieve all illegal payments made under same, and ensure that all the perpetrators are prosecuted. The day of accountability is fast approaching, and no one found culpable will be let off the hook by the next NDC/Mahama government.”
“This is a solemn pledge and our charge to keep when by the grace of God and the Ghanaian people, the NDC assumes the reins of government in 2025.”
“We call on the Ghanaian electorate not to allow President Akufo-Addo and his corrupt cabal of family and friends, to install as President, their puppet (Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia), whose sole mission is to cover up the many ills of this remarkably corrupt administration and insulate wrongdoers including himself, from prosecution.”
“Fellow countrymen and women, the “Agyapa” scam clearly amounts to wilfully causing financial loss to the state, and the culprits of same must not go unpunished. We in the NDC, and all well-meaning Ghanaians, repose huge trust and confidence in H.E John Mahama, to pursue and retrieve for the state, public funds that have been lost to looting schemes such as this “Agyapa” scandal, the PDS scandal, the “BOSTGATE” scandal and other acts of naked thievery by officials of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government and their party apparatchiks.”
“The flagbearer of the NDC and incoming President, John Mahama, at the time, vowed to cancel the fraudulent Agyapa royalties deal if he won the 2020 general elections. That position has not changed. The OSP found that payments were fraudulently made to some entities under the deal. Entities like Databank, a company founded and still owned by Ken Ofori-Atta, the immediate Finance Minister, and cousin of President Akufo-Addo. The Office of the Special Prosecutor also found similar illegal payments were made to Africa Legal Associates, a law firm belonging to Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko. All these payments were found by the OSP to be unlawful, yet these payments did not benefit the country in any way. The money has gone into the hands of the President, Ken Ofori-Atta, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, and his few cronies.”
The NDC National Communications Officer took a swipe at President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his Vice Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for engaging in what he termed as brazen abuse of the public purse.
“We have stated times without number that the Agyapa Royalties deal was fraudulent, cooked, and schemed by the corrupt Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government. For the sole purpose of appropriating mineral royalties of the country for themselves in perpetuity. Ghanaians will recall that during the intense public debate on the infamous Agyapa deal, the NDC took a principled decision to stand with the people of Ghana. We kicked against the whole Agyapa arrangement. On grounds that the country’s mineral royalties have been grossly undervalued under the opaque deal. And was going to deny future governments and generations future minerals for development. It is the height of cruelty that the government of President Akufo-Addo and Bawumia engaged in this naked thievery and brazen abuse of the public purse.”
The CEO of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, recently revealed that the government spent $12 million on the failed Agyapa royalties deal during his appearance before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament.
The Agyapa deal aimed to generate funds for crucial infrastructure projects through mineral royalties but was halted by President Nana Akufo-Addo in 2021 following concerns raised by civil society groups and the NDC. Before its cancellation, $12 million had already been spent on its initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.
Mr Koranteng informed PAC that the Ministry of Finance subscribed to the deal based on advice from international consultants, emphasizing that the correct advice was provided for the set-up of a gold royalties company benefiting Ghana.
“My understanding, honourable chair, is that the Ministry of Finance procured the services of international consultancy and companies and financial institutions that have done this in the past and that the advice provided was what the Ministry of Finance stood on.”
“We started with the Ministry of Finance and from the documents that we have, it is clear that the correct advice was provided on the set-up of a gold royalties company where the streaming of the royalties would benefit Ghana,” he added.
The Agyapa Royalties Investment Ltd, the primary subsidiary under MIIF, is slated for listing on the London Stock Exchange, with expectations to generate approximately $1 billion for financing mining ventures in Ghana and across Africa.
In November 2020, President Akufo-Addo directed the Minister of Finance to resubmit agreements supporting the Agyapa deal to Parliament for a fresh approval process to commence.
