Boakye Agyarko opens up 3-years after being fired over AMERI deal

Boakye Agyarko, a former Energy Minister has opened up to the media on the matter three-years after he was fired by President Nana Akufo-Addo. Agyarko was leading a review of a new power agreement between the Government of Ghana and the Africa Middle East Resource Investment (AMERI).

According to him, the President who has the power of appointing and disappointing does not owe him any explanation for firing him.

“He is the President, he is the ultimate appointing authority, he does not need to give anybody a reason why you are fired,” Boakye Agyarko said on Joy News on 7 January in a report monitored by GhanaWeb.

Agyarko added that despite his dismissal in Akufo-Addo’s first term of office, he still remains loyal and committed to the incumbent NPP.

“Things have their own time, things come in their own time and I am not the type to press matters and I will allow time to make its own arrangements for those conversations,” he said.

When asked whether or not he looked forward to another ministerial appointment in the second term of Akufo-Addo’s government, Boakye Ayarko said “I have not spoken to the President on any such matters, I have not discussed any of such matters with him. It is not within my province to determine and it is not within my province to even speculate.”

Background

Boakye Agyarko had claimed that the AMERI deal was bloated by some $150 million, hence the need for a review.

The joint Finance and Energy Committees of the 7th Parliament refused to approve the reviewed agreement until other substantial documents including the Attorney General’s advice on the matter were made available to the Chamber.

The then Minority indicated that the new deal would cost the nation US$1 billion loss.

This raised a lot of controversy when it became clear that the AMERI deal was not anything better after all.

The African Center for Energy Policy (ACEP) as well as the Volta River Authority (VRA) staff called on Parliament to not approve the deal.

The President in a statement suggested that Boakye Agyarko had misled him into giving the green light to the AMERI deal. But Agyarko stood his ground that there was nothing wrong with the deal.

For that action, President Akufo-Addo, on August 6, 2018, relieved Boakye Agyarko of his position after an ultimatum for him to resign expired.