The National Democratic Congress ( NDC ) held a press conference on Monday 19th February 2024 at their national headquarters at Adabraka to address the nation on the latest revelation about the 12 million dollar expenditure on the suspended Agya Pa Royalties deal.
The National Communications officer, Samuel Gyamfi Esq, spoke about how the Public Accounts Committee ( PAC) of parliament, brought out disturbing issues on corruption and public state funds by certain state institutions.
The latest revelation about the Agya Pa deal disclosed by the CEO of Minerals Income Investment Fund ( MIIF) Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng stated that 12 million dollars was spent on setting up Royalty vehicles, the payment of consultancy fees and rentals of office spaces towards the listing of ‘ Agya Pa ‘’ royalties on the London Stock Exchange, shocked the Ghanaian public from these corruption scandals.
“The Agya Pa deal was a scheme cooked by the ruling government, the NPP to extort mineral royalties of the country for their gains,” Sammy Gyamfi said.
The NDC National Communications officer stated that the country’s mineral royalties had been grossly undervalued and under the opaque deal, it is going to deny future government and generations mineral revenues that are critical to the development of the country.
“Sadly but surprisingly the ruling government, the New Patriotic Party has used their numbers to approve corrupt deals despite the economic hardship faced by the citizens in the country. Even though several civil society groups such as the Ghana Integrity Initiative ( GII), and Public Interest and Accountability Committee ( PIAC) among others were against the Agya Pa deal it was ignored by the New Patriotic Party“.
“Also, according to the records the NPP government has spent 12 million dollars on the suspended AgyaPa Royalties Deal. The abuse of the public purse started during the COVID-19 pandemic and Ghanaians had to suffer” he said
The Office of the Special Prosecutor ( OSP ) revealed that the AgyaPa made some illegal payments to certain entities such as Data bank, a Special Envoy on international investments, and the Capital Markets which were also involved in the corrupt act, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) claimed unlawfully and didn’t relief any economical burden.
According to the National Communications officer, the amount of 12 million dollars equivalent to 153 million Ghana cedis could have solved the country’s broken economy and also provided social amenities. The loss of this huge amount of money could have catered for learning materials for school children, several hospitals, and paid allowances for National Service personnel.
” The penchant of the corrupt NPP government to hide behind crafty schemes such as the Agya Pa deal, to steal from the people of Ghana is just too much. Due to the huge embezzlement of funds by the ruling government, everyone is suffering from financial loss. Aside from the ruling government’s corrupt actions and being exposed by Anas during the Galmsey documentary, they still attempted to steal 10 containers of rice belonging to a Ghanaian businessman to donate during Ramadan” he said.
The National Communications officer, Samuel Gyamfi stated that citizens should rise and choose true accountability to reject corruption, nepotism, and economic mismanagement by voting for the National Democratic Congress and His Excellency John Dramani Mahama in the coming 2024 elections, to retrieve all illegal payments made under the AgyaPa Royalties Deal and ensure that all perpetrators are prosecuted when the party assumes office.
Story by: YaaYaa / Ahotoronline.com
