Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta says Kofi Bosompem Osafo-Maafo, the son of Yaw Osafo-Maafo, the Senior Minister, has experience in mineral royalties’ transaction and his track record in some of the countries he has worked for very much qualifies him to engage in the Agyapa Royalties deal.
Speaking on Newsfile on Joy FM, he said nothing barred Kofi Osafo-Maafo, who is currently a deputy director-general of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) from participating in the deal.
The Senior Minister's son named Kofi Bosompem Osafo-Maafo and Gabby Otchere-Darko, a relative of the Finance Minister and the President of Ghana have been appointed as members of the Agyapa Mineral Royalties firm to handle the deal.
The roles of Gabby and Osafo-Marfo have been met with vehement opposition as members and leaders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as well as the Minority in Parliament share a strong opinion that the selection of the Senior Minister's son and President's cousin is a conflict of interest.
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Ofori-Atta indicated that he does not think it is a scheme by the ruling government to amass wealth for persons close to the President as been speculated.
"We used an international search system to source persons for the Agyapa deal and looking at Kofi's CV it met the specification and even his track record of what he did at SSNIT was great. There is always a problem when a relative of a government official is involved in a deal, people do not look at their competence and CV. Even myself they claim I am related to the President and it is an issue"
Ofori-Atta noted that Kofi Osafo-Maafo is qualified like any other Ghanaian who is qualified to be working with Agyapa Royalties.
He disagreed with the narrative that Kofi Osafo-Maafo’s father is a politician associated with the current administration and, therefore that there is a conflict of interest or that he was favoured.
There have been concerns raised by the Minority about the incumbent practising nepotism with the Agyapa Royalties deal.
Background
Parliament approved five agreements on Friday, August 14, 2020, to allow Agyapa Royalties Ltd, a Special Purpose Vehicle, to secure about $1 billion for Ghana's minerals sector.
The deal is to permit Agyapa Royalties Ltd to operate as an independent private sector entity and raise funds from the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE).
The Agyapa Royalties deal is intended for the country to gain maximum value from its mineral resources by monetizing its mineral income in accordance with the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) Act of 2018 (Act 978).
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