Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has disclosed that the country is likely to be the biggest loser in the highly controversial Agyapa Royalties deal.
To him, the deal is a high-risk venture likely to plunge the country's economy into a complete mess.
Describing the deal as 'messy and opaque', Okudzeto Ablakwa pointed out that listing on the London Stock Exchange does not guarantee the deal's success.
"Listing your business on the stock market does not make it a guaranteed investment. The Stock market can fluctuate anytime, so those saying listing it on the London Stock Exchange guarantees some kind of security or we will have more value for the packaged gold deal under this messy and opaque deal are absolutely wrong," he strongly held.
Explaining further in an interview on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia', he recounted how people lost their whole investments somewhere in 2007 during the global financial crisis.
"This makes this deal very risky," he added.
Whiles bemoaning the fact that chiefs and custodians of lands where these natural resources can be mostly found were not consulted prior to the deal, the NDC MP also held that if one wants to assess the corporate good governance of a government, there are certain countries that cannot be cited as examples because of their negative global connotations.
"In the world over, countries are moving away from or have stopped doing business in tax haven and jurisdictions that look shady and do not represent any transparency.
"Ghana right now has been downgraded in terms of money laundering by the European Union because of some these shady, and dubious dealings going on in the country....
"These natural resources belongs to all us, therefore one needs to consult with the chiefs and people in whose lands these natural resources can be found.....but unfortunately, this has not been done," the MP stated.
Agyapa Deal Controversies
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament and opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have described the deal as lacking transparency and clothed with corruption.
They have thus threatened to petition the London Stock Exchange.
“We will today [Tuesday] put the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Conduct Authority on notice that this agreement does not meet the minimum requirement of diligence and transparency and minimum requirements of our constitution.
“The Minority wishes to state emphatically that the SPV and its accompanying agreements as structured by the current Government is not just opaque but inimical to the interest of the Republic of Ghana. We, therefore, wish to completely disassociate ourselves with the proposed relationship agreement and subsequent flotation of shares on the London Stock Exchange,” the Minority stated.
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu briefing the press about the deal further stated that "the Minister of Finance in presenting this deal is in breach and a clear violation of the law and is required to have reported this deal with full disclosure in his 2020 Supplementary budget to Parliament. Our position is that no future NDC government will honor the terms of this Agyapa Royalties Transaction".
In a related development, former President and NDC flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, has vowed not to "respect the deal" should he be voted back to power.
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