Show transparency on the Agyapa Royalties deal - Opeele Boateng to NPP

Social commentator and former coach of Asante Kotoko football club, Isaac ‘Opeele’ Boateng has suggested to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP)to educate the public and show transparency on the Agyapa Royalties deal.

Two years ago, the Parliament of Ghana passed the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act 2018 which establishes the Fund to manage the equity interests of Ghana in mining companies, and receive royalties on behalf of the government.

The fund is supposed to manage and invest these royalties and revenue from equities for higher returns for the benefit of the country.

The law allows the fund to establish Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) to use for the appropriate investments. The government introduced an amendment to the act to ensure that the SPVs have unfettered independence.

The approval will enable the country to use a special purpose vehicle, Agyapa Royalties Limited to secure about $1 billion to finance large infrastructural projects.

In line with that, Agyapa, which will operate as an independent private sector entity, will be able to raise funds from the capital market, both locally and internationally, as an alternative to the conventional debt capital market transactions.

The funds, which are expected to be raised from the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), will be a long-term capital, without a corresponding increase in Ghana’s total debt stock and hence without a public debt repayment obligation.

The Agyapa Royalties deal is part of the current government’s strategy to beat the long-standing problem of lack of capital for developmental projects.

The opposition parties and the masses have been up against the deal, tagging it as a corrupt and devious one, and have called on H.E President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo- Addo and his government to abolish the deal. According to the masses, the deal is but another means to loot and steal from the people of Ghana.

Giving his objective view as a panellist on Hot 93.9 FM’s ‘Dwene ho Biom’ political talk show hosted by Chairman KK Asamoah, Coach Opeele Boateng indicated that the deal is not illegal, per his opinion, but the government should take advantage of their being in power to educate Ghanaians on the deal, just to ensure transparency and accountability.

He advised the NPP, saying “I don’t want the NPP to go into opposition only to regret not having educated the public on the Agyapa deal. NPP, you are in power. Take advantage of that and show transparency; show accountability".

"Let the people know what the Agyapa deal is about, because I, for one, cannot find anything illegal about it. So educate the layman who has only heard falsely about how Ghana’s minerals are being sold to the foreigners,” the outspoken social commentator added.