President Akufo-Addo says government will come back to engage Parliament on the steps it intends to take on the future of the Agyapa transaction. As it is now, Government got all the parliamentary approvals it needed to continue with the transaction that seeks to monetize some of our gold royalties and use the money for investments in mining and development.
Delivering his State of the Nation (SONA), he made it clear that he will involve Parliament on whether or not to go ahead and if so how.
READ More: NLA to begin payment of Winnings – Union Leader discloses
In 2018, minority contributed positively to passing the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act which set up MIIF and gave MIIF the power to set up an SPV like Agyapa and to list on stock markets. This is all in the law.
Agyapa became a victim of the political season because as Ex- President John Mahama said on his campaign he did not know why Government was in a rush to raise over $500m with three months to the 2020 elections.
The NDC twisted the legitimate involvement of Databank, the most successful securities company in Ghana, in the transaction even though low procurement rules were breached. Databank has since withdrawn from the deal without making a pesewa.
Some of us believe and insist that the transaction was being done with the best interest of the nation in mind.
The Attorney General at his vetting made it clear that everything was done in accordance with the law. The Martin Amidu report cannot be taken seriously because he did not even give a hearing to those he criticized in the deal and only exposed his lack of understanding.
There are no individual owners of Agyapa. Which is a creation of the same Parliament with the active support of minority MPs. Agyapa is 100% owned by the Minerals Income Investment Fund which is 100% owned by the state on behalf of all Ghanaians. Agyapa was to list on stock markets in London and Accra to raise money for development and also to support Ghanaians in mining so that we the owners of the gold can earn more ourselves.
We have been mining for so many years, but most of the value go to foreigners.
The NDC is bent on frustrating the efforts of the government in building a strong economy.
The Agyapa deal is just one new option, which NDC tried but failed under Mills-Mahama, to maximize Ghanaians’ benefit from our mines and the opposition know the money that it will bring into the system, hence the sabotage.
The propaganda that the deal is for a certain group of people is all part of the lie and it is instructive to note that the Agyapa deal is in the interest of the nation first and not the interests of any individual, organization or group of persons.
In 2018, Parliament passed the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act, 2018 which establishes the fund to manage the equity interests of Ghana in mining companies and receive royalties on behalf of the government. The purpose of the fund is to manage and invest these royalties and revenue from equities for higher returns for the benefit of the country.
The government then, through the Minerals Income Investments Fund(MIIF), set up Agyapa Royalties Limited to monetize Ghana’s gold royalties. This was after Parliament on August 14, 2020, approved the Agyapa Mineral Royalty Limited agreement with the government of Ghana despite the walkout by the minority.
In exchange, the company plans to raise between $500 million and up to about $1 billion for the government on the Ghana and London Stock Exchanges to invest in developmental projects.