Martin Amidu, the Special Prosecutor, says his corruption risk assessment report on the Agyapa Royalties Agreement must not be trivialised by politicians.
In a statement issued today (Tuesday 3 November 2020), Amidu said a great deal of thinking went into the 64-page report; as such, it would be wrong for the public to just “pick and choose” what from among the report’s findings suits it.
Amidu’s concerns follow two separate statements from the Office of the President and the Ministry of Finance reacting to his corruption risk assessment report to President Nana Akufo-Addo.
“I do not intend to be patronised as the Special Prosecutor as Mr Eugene Arhin appears to have conveyed by the statement issued under his hand. Analysis of the risk of corruption and anti-corruption assessments are a serious anti-corruption tool with very serious consequences for any country dedicated to fighting corruption and making corruption a high-risk enterprise.
“The sixty-four (64) page report was analysed and assessed professionally and referenced with detailed analysis of the risk of corruption and anti-corruption assessment of the Agyapa Royalties transactions from which no one can just pick and choose what he wants,” Amidu’s statement read in part.
“The documents and the facts are real and were not manufactured by the Special Prosecutor.”
It added: “The Office of the Special Prosecutor was either seriously intended to prevent and fight corruption or was only intended as a showpiece to be trivialised. The sixty-four (64) page report must be taken seriously to make corruption a very high-risk venture in Ghana.”
Read the Special Prosecutor’s full statement below:
Ofori-Atta’s response
In his official response to the Special Prosecutor’s report Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance, said: “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.”
Ofori-Atta’s memo to the president explained: “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 added 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.”
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