We’ll kick against Agyapa if old deal is brought back- Minority

-

 


Members of the Minority in Parliament have revealed that, they will kick against the controversial Agyapa Mineral Royalties deal if it is brought back to Parliament for approval.

The caucuses preserve that the deal remains bad and will not serve the interest of Ghanaians if passed.

Minority Leader in Parliament, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu in an interview with the media after President Nana Akufo-Addo’s delivery of the 2021 State of the Nation Address on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, said he is not convinced about the decorum of the deal.

According to him, the coming back of Agyapa means corruption is back and they will not support it.

While delivering his first State of the Nation address in his second term in office, Nana Akufo-Addo implied that the controversial deal that failed to see the light of day in the 7th Parliament will be resurrected in the 8th Parliament.

The controversial gold royalty deal was put on suspension after civil society organisations, Members of Parliament and a section of the public rejected it saying it was not going to serve the best interest of the country

But President Akufo-Addo delivering his State of the Nation Address on Tuesday, March 9 told Parliament his government intends to further engage lawmakers on the future of the transaction.

“The government will come back to engage the House on the steps it intends to take on the future of the Agyapa transaction,” President Akufo-Addo declared.

Martin Amidu, the former Special Prosecutor in a corruption risk assessment had earlier concluded that there were breaches of the Public Procurement Act and the Public Financial Management Act with regards to how the advisors of the gold royalty fund agreement were procured.

Martin Amidu disclosed that the process involving the transaction raised reasonable suspicion of bid-rigging and corruption.

The risk assessment report also indicated that the procurement of service providers for the transaction showed possible cronyism and nepotism which could result in illicit financial activities and money laundering.

Mr Amidu subsequently resigned from his role as Special Prosecutor in November last year.

Prior to approving the Agyapa Royalties transaction, Parliament in 2018 passed the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) Act 2018 which establishes the Fund to manage the equity interests of Ghana in mining companies and receive royalties on behalf of government.

The sole purpose of the fund is to manage and invest these royalties and revenue from equities for higher returns for the benefit of the country and government through the MIIF.

In exchange for that, the Agyapa Royalties Limited aims to raise between US$500 million and US$750 million for the Government on the Ghana and London Stock exchange’s intended for development projects.

 

Members of the Minority who lashed out against the deal when it first came up in Akufo-Addo’s first term persist that they will not back it when the president brings it back to the Parliament.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Final year KNUST medical students only to study on campus-Dr. Bekoe

-
Image
Deputy registrar for Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Dr. Bekoe has told Nana Ampratwum that only final year students would be studying on campus whilst others continue studying online. Speaking on the Omanbapa morning show, he said the 6th year medical students would spend 3 weeks on campus for exams before they end the semester and the 5th year also follow suit afterwards due to social distancing. This follows the easing of Covid-19 restrictions to enable educational institutions to re-open for final year students on June 15. Dr. Bekoe also clarified that no students has been asked to come for their belongings at the campus as speculated on the social media.
Read more

Asiedu Nketia reveals NPP’s difficulty in e-levy passage

-
  General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has revealed why the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is having difficulty in passing the Electronic Transactions Levy aka E-Levy. Speaking to the media, he said the NPP government cannot mobilise the 138 parliamentarians to vote for the passing of the levy because some are against the levy. According to him, he is surprise that, the NPP keeps blaming the NDC on the levy claiming that they are preventing them but on this particular occasion, the Minority said they don’t agree and therefore won’t vote and not that they are preventing the NPP from voting. He added that, the Majority carries the vote and so they should mobilize their 138 MPs and vote on the levy but he thinks they are finding it difficult because even their own MPs are unwilling to vote for the passing of the levy. The NDC chief scribe also believes there has not been any vivid and substantial account provided by the gover...
Read more

To the Editor,

-
To the Editor, Why I didn’t show up for the morning news production on Monday On that fateful day (Monday, April 4 th 2022) I was preparing to come and produce the morning news despite the heavy rainfall and lack of electricity in my area. I was ready to come around 4:30am when my father ordered me to wait due to crime rate in my area and especially such an ungodly hour. From where l stay, I have to board a taxi to the main road before getting a car to work but unfortunately, there was no car at the time I arrived there around 5:10am because of the rain and lack of electricity. I had no other option than to wait because I might be attacked if I decided to walk to the main road that’s why I couldn’t get here on time to produce to morning news. Thank you                                     ...
Read more