Flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) John Mahama has served notice that his government will investigate the shady agreement between Government of Ghana and Agyapa Royalties Limited if he’s elected into power.
According to the former President, the deal is theft of Ghanaians royalties which has been made just to benefit a few people in power.
“Ghanaians cannot accept that agreement, we do not accept that government of Ghana should invest our royalties in an offshore tax haven. Let them invest it in a company that is transparent we can see the beneficial owners of the company. In the worst-case scenario use the government of Ghana vehicle- Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund is supposed to be our sovereign wealth fund. If we assign our gold royalties to it, the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund can raise those same monies you want. In any case we had almost $200million a year, you want to go and borrow $500million and give our gold royalties for fifteen years to a company that we don’t know who owns it in a tax haven and it’s against the money laundering rules and the President and his cohorts should not be doing this type of thing.” Mr Mahama told Agoo TV in an interview monitored by Kasapafmonline.com.
The ex-President added: “If you even look at those who put the transaction together they are people very close to President. Already, almost $2million has been paid to them on this transaction alone. This President and those around him think they can do anything and get away with it.”
Agyapa deal
Parliament two weeks ago approved five agreements to allow the country to derive maximum value from its mineral resources and monetise its mineral income accruing to the country in a sustainable and responsible manner, in line the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) Act, 2018 (Act 978).
The approval will enable the country to use a special purpose vehicle, Agyapa Royalties Limited, to secure about $1 billion to finance large infrastructural projects.In line with that, Agyapa, which will operate as an independent private sector entity, will be able to raise funds from the capital market, both locally and internationally, as an alternative to the conventional debt capital market transactions.
The funds, which are expected to be raised from the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), will be a long-term capital, without a corresponding increase in Ghana’s total debt stock and hence without a public debt repayment obligation.
Source: Kasapafmonline.com/102.5FM
