SONA 2021: Controversial Agyapa Royalties deal will return to Parliament - Akufo-Addo
- The Agyapa Deal has been criticized by anti-corruption crusaders who want it terminated
- Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu said the deal was designed to facilitate illicit financial flows and money laundering
- Ken Ofori-Atta is expected to answer a litany of questions on the controversial deal when he eventually appears before the vetting committee
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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has indicated that his administration will return the controversial Agyapa Royalties deal to Parliament.
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, flagged the deal after conducting a corruption and anti-corruption risk assessment report on it in 2020.
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He said in his report that there was reasonable suspicion of “bid-rigging and corruption” as well as the likelihood for “illicit financial flows and money laundering” in selecting the deal’s transaction advisor(s).
Amidu resigned as the country’s special prosecutor following the report, citing threats on his life and a series of traumatic experiences.
Delivering his first State of the Nation Address of his second term on Tuesday, March 09, 2021, President Akufo-Addo said the botched deal will be back to the lawmaking chamber.
“The government will come back to engage the House on the steps it intends to take on the future of the Agyapa transaction,” he told the lawmakers.
Parliament on August 14 approved the controversial deal despite a walkout by the Minority.
The approval would enable the country to use a special purpose vehicle, Agyapa Royalties Limited, to secure about $1 billion to finance large infrastructural projects.
Former Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Gloria Akuffo, never opposed the controversial deal, Godfred Dame said.
The then Attorney General and Minister for Justice nominee made the disclosure on Friday, February 12, 2021, when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament.
“I am indicating for the record that the former Attorney General [Gloria Akuffo] was never opposed to the transaction and that is clear in all the documents available to me,” Dame stated.
The Attorney General’s office in 2020 declared that the agreement was not in the interest of Ghana.
The office further added it was unclear what benefits “will come to the Republic of Ghana and the fund other than the one-off payment”, considering that the agreement runs in perpetuity with stringent responsibilities of the fund throughout its lifespan.
Meanwhile, investment bank, Databank withdrew from the deal as transaction advisors.
The Group CEO of Databank, Kojo Addae-Mensah, said that the tumult generated grossly compromises the ability of the firm to execute such a market-sensitive and novel transaction, hence, the withdrawal.
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