Withdraw Agyapa deal completely, Mahama to Akufo-Addo

The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on President Akufo-Addo to order the complete withdrawal of the Agyapa Royalties deal.

Mahama said the “Agyapa deal must be withdrawn completely. There is no need for a review.”

On Monday (2 November) President Akufo-Addo directed Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance, to head back to Parliament with the Agyapa Royalties deal for further scrutiny after receiving a corruption risk assessment report from the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu.

According to the report, “the process of the selection of the transaction advisor(s) disclosed a reasonable suspicion of bid-rigging and corruption activity including the potential for illicit financial flows and money laundering”.

The report added: “All the parties to the Mandate Agreement are to have known the law but ignored it with impunity in signing and implementing the Mandate Agreement which is null and void ab initio as violating the Public Financial Management Act 2006 (Act 921) and the Public Procurement Authority Act 2003 (Act 663) as amended.”

But speaking on Starr FM on Tuesday (3 November) John Mahama said the president should have “asked the Finance Minister to step aside or suspend him but he’s quit on that”.

“It [the report] is not surprising: the Minority said it, 13 CSOs said it and so it is not surprising that the Special Prosecutor has said it. The issue for value for money, those were issues that came up … but Special Prosecutor kicked in and has raised the issues … the issue is not returning it to Parliament: it should be withdrawn completely [sic].”

Meanwhile, Ken Ofori-Atta has responded officially to the Special Prosecutor’s corruption risk assessment on the Agyapa deal in a memo to the president.

“Prior to initiating the transaction, MoF [the Ministry of Finance] ensured to undertake all the necessary prerequisite action required by law, from the procurement of transaction advisors, to the submission of transaction documents to the AG and Parliament for their review, input and approval,” said Ofori-Atta in the memo dated 30 October 2020.

No justification 

The memo said: “There is no justifiable reason for concluding that the current members of the MIIF Board will jeopardise their apparent professional integrity and reputations to engage in corrupt practices motivated by partisan considerations.”

The memo further adds that the “MoF did not seek parliamentary approval for the Mandate Agreement, because MoF considered the role of Imara TA to be advisory, with regard to the structuring and the drafting of agreements for the IPO of Agyapa on the London Stock Exchange, the main transaction, whose agreements have all been submitted to Parliament for approval, and not to have [the] economic impact anticipated by the Supreme Court in the Balkan Energy case. 

“Similarly, MoF has not sought parliamentary approval for other international transaction advisory service agreements it has signed in the past, such as the engagement of international investment banks for Eurobond issuances, for example,” it said.

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