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Dr. Steve Manteaw, CSO Spokesperson
The Alliance of CSOs working on Extractive, Anti-Corruption and Good Governance, which is made up of 15 CSOs, has urged the government to clarify the faces behind Agyapa Royalties Limited, which was recently established as a special purpose vehicle to manage royalties from the gold of the country.
CSOs are asking the government to disclose to the shareholders, directors and manager of this new entity who they fear may be politically exposed persons.
Until this and all other relevant documents related to the agreement are made public, CSOs have asked the government to suspend the agreement.
CSOs believe that a consultative process that respects the views of Ghanaians on such an important decision would have been helpful in shaping government policy.
CSOs include the CSO Open Licensing Group, the African Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), the Center for Extraction and Development of Africa (CEDA), the Center for Integrated Social Development (ISODEC), the Citizen Movement against Corruption (CMAC), Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas (CSPOG), Penplusbyte and Oil Watch Ghana.
The rest are the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), the Center for Democratic Development (CDD), the Institute for Natural Resource Governance (NRGI), Publish What You Pay (PWYP), Center for Public Interest Law (CEPIL), IMANI Ghana and Women Aspire.
Consensus building
Addressing the media at a press conference in Accra, CSO spokesperson Dr. Steve Manteaw said the opaque way in which the policy was being implemented, the relatively weak transparency and public oversight arrangements, and the rush with which the government was operating. The market, despite concerns raised by a broad spectrum of the Ghanaian population, did not generate public trust or consensus building on issues of public concern.
“This approach rather raises moral and governance issues. The assumption that once everything passes through parliament, it is on the table and represents the interests of all Ghanaians is misleading and turns democracy upside down. It makes elected officials the only relevant stakeholders in policymaking and, as former US President Barack Obama once pointed out, wrongly assumes that democracy is a transaction between leaders and people only in the elections, ”he explained.
He said that while the government’s intention could be genuine and aimed at optimizing the benefits of gold royalties for the state, the lack of consultation on the bill that eventually passed into the Minerals Income Investment Fund Law (MIIF), (2018), Law 978, with its 2020 amendments, was responsible for the lack of public support for its implementation.
More suspicion
Dr. Manteaw noted that the recent amendment to the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act created further suspicions.
He said the hasty amendments inserted troubling clauses, including clauses that elevate the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Agyapa’s royalties, above Ghana’s tax laws, shake up Ghana’s sovereign immunity and thus expose the country to the risk of damaging lawsuits should any future government seek to reverse this transaction.
“What strikes us even more repulsive about this entire transaction is the provision that allows Agyapa Royalties, a supposed sovereign state company, registered in a tax haven, to borrow money or obtain capital in foreign currency from any source on the reverse side of the Ghanaian gold royalties without the requirement of any approval, consent or additional administrative act of the Government of Ghana -Sect. 33 (2) (a).
Questions without answer
He said that although there have been several attempts by the government to clarify some concerns, there are still some important questions that remain unanswered.
“The managers and directors of Agyapa are not politically exposed people, and were they not selected through a non-competitive process? Just last week, we saw a call for expression of interest, posted on the Daily Graphic, inviting potential consultants for the development of a strategic plan for the Mineral Income Investment Fund. While we welcome the open and transparent process for the selection of firms in relation to this assignment, we have not found evidence of the same openness in the creation of the SPV and the appointment of its directors ”.
“Once again, it surpasses our imagination as to why an entity, without a corporate strategy and approved spending plans, would proceed to raise $ 1 billion and cede $ 500 million to the government in such indecent haste, especially when there is no one. Known national emergency that justifies such a rush, ”he asked.
Dr Manteaw said CSOs also wanted to know the dividend policy on investment being sought on the London Stock Exchange.
“This is a crucial part of the whole transaction that will tell Ghanaians how investors will benefit from royalties from the state. This also allows the public to see if the deal is really beneficial or not. Surprisingly, the parliament showed no interest in this and rather waved its oversight, “he said.
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