Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance
• Agyapa deal is going back to Parliament
• It has been repackaged and restructured
• Ken Ofori-Atta has stated that AG has already reviewed the ‘new’ Agyapa deal
Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, has disclosed that, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice has already reviewed the restructured, repackaged Agyapa Royalties agreement to inure to the benefit of Ghanaians.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Board of Mineral Income Investment Fund in Accra on Tuesday, October 12, Ofori-Atta hinted that the government of Ghana has an intention to resubmit the controversial Agyapa Royalties agreement to Parliament for approval.
“The Attorney-General has looked at it and we have had a few stakeholder meetings and I think the new board should be energised to review that and then go through the Parliamentary process,” he said.
Ken Ofori-Atta added, “I’m unequivocal that it is the way to go in terms of monetizing our minerals and finding a way to leverage it to reduce the level of debt of the country and move it into equity. And with the concerns that were raised, we should be able to address them and move forward.”
The Agyapa deal, was approved by Parliament but was withdrawn by the government following a Corruption Risk assessment by the former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu.
Martin Amidu’s assessment revealed some reasonable suspicion of bid-rigging and corruption activity in the selection process of the deal. It was also discovered that the transaction was embroiled in infractions regarding relationships and conflict of interest.
The finance minister has, however, tasked the newly inaugurated board has been tasked with the sole objective of getting the deal operational.