I was hurt over Agyapa, PDS accusations – Gabby Otchere-Darko

Founder and Chairman of Africa Prosperity Network, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, stated that accusations thrown at him for the Agyapa and PDS agreements hurt him.

Speaking on Starr Chat with Bola Ray, the corporate lawyer said the move could have boosted his company’s CV as the legal firm that worked on the agreement.

According to him, the government did not contract him to offer the legal work but rather the consultant on the project called him which his accusers were unaware of.

“How come the other lawyers in Agyapa you are not accusing them but you are accusing me and I wasn’t even contracted by the government. I was contracted by a Consultant because they know the work you do in certain areas and they ask people and you then you give your opinion on certain things and I was contracted to do for a consultant and not for the government," he said.

“The Agyapa kind of hurt me a lot because for me being at such an innovative approach to raising money and being part of the value chain of gold for me I thought that was good for my firm. It was something that we were going to celebrate that yes we were part of the lawyers that drafted this,” he stated.

Mr. Otchere-Darko disclosed that President Akufo-Addo wanted Ghanaians to own a bigger percentage with the PDS agreement.

“PDS was one of the most painful things and the reason being the whole PDS thing was created even before this government came to office. There were five companies that were shortlisted before NPP came into office."

“The only difference was that under the previous government Ghanaians can own 20 percent and the foreigners can own 80 percent. Akufo-Addo thought no way. This is a great asset of the country and it creates income all the time. You may bring some small money but once you have it you can even use the expected revenue to go and raise money,” the corporate lawyer stated.