Why should anyone listen to them? – Ursula Owusu shades IMANI

Think tank, IMANI Africa has been at the forefront of the campaign against the ‘unconscionable’ Agyapa deal.

Despite being one of over fifteen Civil Society Organizations opposed to the deal, IMANI has been the loudest with its President, Franklin Cudjoe and Vice President, Kofi Bentil leading the charge.

As a think tank, IMANI has made clear and obvious its position on the controversial deal.

In a 10-point statement, IMANI pointed out what it contends to be gaping holes and fallacies in the arguments advanced by government in defense of the deal.

IMANI said it was never going to relent in its effort in ensuring that the ‘corrupt and fraudulent’ deal is abrogated.

"If you think that the CSO front is going to leave this Agyapa business to just a few people and IMANI, then brace yourself. This week, a whole lot of new voices are going to be heard, serious voices. Tons of expertise and experience are going to be unleashed at this Agyapa business. Some of us are even going to take a backseat”, the opening paragraph of the statement reads.

Franklin Cudjoe, Kofi Bentil and Bright Simon who are all members of the group have in their individual capacities also made cases for their stance that a raw deal has been offered Ghana with the agreement.

Kofi Bentil in a Facebook post said “I am in favor of engineering our resources in the country and also our revenue to attain greater returns in the country. But after analyzing the Agyapa deal I can say it is terrible and corrupt.”

On Joy News’ Newsfile programme, Bright Simons emphasized the need for government to give its ear to the submissions by the CSOs.

“To expect that the ordinary citizen who has been through all the day to day hustle of living in Accra, Kumasi or Sunyani will be able to go through these documents and make an informed decision about whether or not they support the government is completely unrealistic,” Simons stated. “So it is the role of organisations like ours to spend time and go through these documents so that we can provide a dispassionate and an objective perspective that can help ordinary citizens to come to some conclusions that are informed and balanced.”

He continued: “I think [our role] is very critical unless the position is that once somebody is elected and then sent to Parliament or sent to the Jubilee house, that person has the complete authority to disregard any further views of citizens in the way that they formulate policies. I don’t think that is sound.”

As reputable as IMANI and its members may be, they always do not get it right. This seems to be the position of Communication Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful.

Amid IMANI’s verbal onslaught on the government over the Agyapa deal, Ursual Owusu has dug up a prediction by IMANI that the free SHS programme was going to be unsuccessful.

The caption that accompanied the screenshot of a www.ghanaweb.com story is “Tinking and Tanking. More failed expert predictions!!! Why should anyone listen to anything they say?”