There is nothing criminal about controversial Agyapa deal — NPP's Ahiagbah

The New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah is staunchly upholding the significance of the controversial Agyapa Royalties Deal.

Richard Ahiagbah, the party's Director of Communication, contended that despite critics' claims suggesting a potential loss of control over Ghana's mineral resources, the arrangement was devoid of any dubious elements.

His reactions come after the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said it will investigate and prosecute all persons involved in the botched Agyapa Royalties deal when voted into power.

The National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, said the flagbearer of the party, John Mahama had informed him to inform Ghanaians that the next NDC government will investigate the stinky $12 million Agyapa scam, retrieve all illegal payments made under same, and ensure that all the perpetrators are prosecuted.

But Richard Ahiagbah disagreed and said there was nothing untoward about the move.

There is nothing criminal about it and that is why I say Bright Simon's position is conjecture. Because you are trying to impugn motive on something that has not happened, he said.

According to him, the special purpose vehicle was a creation with had the potential to rake in benefits to the country if allowed roll out.

Speaking on Joy News, he stated that it is a complex abstract concept to try to create value for this country. Not a lot of people understand what Agyapa is. So it is easy to leverage that confusion and want to extract political value out of it and that is what Sammy is doing.

Agyapa deal

Parliament passed the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act, 2018 (MIIF Act 978) with the key objective of maximising the county’s mineral wealth for the benefit of Ghanaians, while ensuring that receiving royalties from gold mining companies was sustainable.

The law was amended to enable it to incorporate subsidiaries and to use it as a special purpose vehicle to do business across the world.

The main subsidiary of the MIIF and holding company, Agyapa Royalties Investment Ltd, will be listed on the LSE, while its subsidiary, ARG Royalties Ltd, will be quoted on the Ghana Stock Exchange, both through initial public offerings.

The company will be responsible for managing 75.6 per cent of the country’s royalty inflow from the 12 gold mining companies that currently operate in Ghana, with four more expected to come on stream.

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