Agyapa deal is under review by Attorney General - Oppong Nkrumah

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, says the Agyapa Royalties deal is being reviewed by the Attorney General’s office before it is returned to parliament.

Speaking on Joynews’ Newsfile program on Saturday, March 12, 2021, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah noted that some critical issues that had previously been raised about the deal, including those captured in the Special Prosecutor’s report, will be looked at and addressed accordingly.

“The Attorney Generals Department is working on it, he has had the opportunity to do a review of what the special prosecutor wrote about it and then the substantive work and is in the process of formally communicating the legal advice on it.”

This follows a previous hint by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during his delivery of the State of the Nation Address, that government is working towards engaging parliament on steps it intends to take with regards to the Agyapa deal.

The deal which has largely been opposed by CSOs and a section of Ghanaians since its introduction was cited the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu’s Corruption Risk Assessment. Mr. Amidu, among other things raised red flags, insisting the deal was not in the interest of Ghanaians.

Mr. Oppong Nkrumah however maintained that the President’s decision to have the deal reviewed is to have all unresolved issues tackled in the interest of the populace.

According to him, there ought to be substantive reason why the deal should be retracted.

“Assuming that the attorney general complete his work comes to cabinet and say let’s not go ahead with the transaction, the president will come back to Parliament and say the future of the Agyapa transaction is that it will not go ahead.”

Meanwhile, Minority in parliament have stuck to their guns about their stance on the deal. They insist they will reject the Agyapa deal if it is brought back to the house for a review.