Agyapa Royalties deal is a destiny changer for Ghanaians - Gabby Otchere-Darko 

A member of the NPP, Gabby Otchere-Darko says the Agyapa Royalties deal is a destiny changer for Ghanaians.

He said he is even happy his law firm Africa Lega Associates are part of transactional advisors for the deal

 

"I'm very proud my law firm is part of it because it is destiny changing arrangement for the way Africa has benefited or not benefited enough from our natural resources."

Speaking on Asempa FM's Ekosiisen, Gabby Otchere-Darko said a lot has not been done to leverage more on our natural resources to develop the country.

He stated that over 500 years of mining gold Obuasi in Ghana cannot be compared to Johannesburg in South Africa which is also a city of gold.

According to him, due to their ideology to make good use of the natural resources for Ghanaians to benefit immensely from they have it started with cocoa with an arrangement with CoteDivore getting more value for cocoa and the processing capacity have moved 27% processing to 47%.

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With this, he believes the Agyapa Royalties deal will also bring to Ghana the needed values.

Some 15 Civil Society Organisations, CSOs are demanding a suspension of the Agyapa Royalties deal. According to them, the deal should be suspended until all necessary documents have been disclosed.

They are concerned about what they describe as a lack of openness and transparency that has characterised the transaction.

The group under the banner name ‘Alliance of CSOs working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption and Good Governance’ are calling for a multi-stakeholder conference to re-look at the deal.

“Just last week, we sighted a call for an expression of interest placed in the Daily Graphic inviting prospective consultants for the development of a strategic plan for the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF).

“While we welcome the open and transparent process for selection relative to this particular assignment, we have no evidence of the same openness in the creation of the Special Purpose Vehicle in the Agyapa deal and the appointment of its directors”, Dr. Steve Manteaw, the Communications Director of Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) said on behalf of the group.

At a press briefing held in Accra Tuesday, the CSOs also alleged that although efforts are being made to justify the deal by the governing government, some political appointees, and the MIIF Secretariat, numerous concerns are yet to be addressed.

“We acknowledge that post mortem attempts are being made to engage the public by the MIIF secretariat to provide answers to some questions Ghanaians have on the Agyapa transactions.

“This, in fact, underscores the point that prior engagement would have better served the national interest.

“But regardless of the attempt to clarify some concerns, significant questions remain unanswered. Are the managers and directors of Agyapa not politically exposed people? And were they not selected through an uncompetitive process?

“Again, it beats our imagination as to why an entity without a corporate strategy and approved funding plans will proceed to raise one billion dollars and give $500 million to the government in such an indecent deal especially when there is no known emergency to warrant such rush,” Dr Manteaw said.