Civil society groups in the country have underscored the need for government to suspend the controversial Agyapa royalties deal.

“It is not enough for the Minister of Finance or the government to ask citizens to trust their sincerity and their expertise” a Press Statement by the CSOs on Tuesday said.

It contends government decision to push the deal through despite calls for further stakeholder consultation is worrisome.

“It would not be right for them to try to bulldoze through a controversial transaction such as this, and about which genuine questions have been raised by experts as well as by ordinary people. We are therefore reiterating our call on the government to suspend implementation of this transaction pending a national dialogue on options available to optimise Ghana’s mineral royalties”.

The CSOs current statement comes after the Ministry of Finance dismissed claims that the controversial Agyapa deal has been suspended.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta has called on Ghanaians to believe that government has made the right decisions on the gold royalties deal.