Agyapa deal is state capture; Stop it now – Manteaw to gov’t

Dr. Steve Manteaw

The Alliance of Civil Society Organisation on Extractives, Anti-corruption and good governance is demanding the immediate suspension of the Agyapa Minerals Royalties Investment deal as it describes the agreement as state capture.

Addressing the media former Chairman for Public Interest Accountability Committee, Dr. Steve Manteaw, charged government to engage stakeholders to explore other options of raising funds for government.

In an interview with Starr News on Tuesday, Dr. Manteaw stated that the CSOs will rally behind NDC flagbearer John Dramani Mahama to ensure the cancellation of the Agyapa deal as he promised no matter the cost to the nation.

“What we are telling government is let’s slow down…let’s have more transparency, more consensus building around the approach before we go forward with the approach. I don’t know of any national emergency that warrants that we should rush the process to raise funds for development.”

“Under the current arrangement, with the Mineral Income Investment act, we do not see any such transparency, accountability and public oversight arrangement, so it makes it very risky and prone to elite capture and abuse.”

Parliament recently gave an approval for the creation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in fulfilment of the Minerals Income Investment Fund Amendment which is yet to be assented by the President.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has been explaining the structure of the Agyapa Royalties transaction and its benefits.

In an interview on PM Express on the Accra based Joynews channel, Mr Nkrumah said the deal raises no debt financing for Ghana and bears no loan interest expenses.

He added that Ghana retains a majority stake in future royalties.

“Under the transaction Ghana now has a vehicle for undertaking participating interests in mineral explorations the world over,” he said.

Source: Starr