Agyapa royalties: the deal must be withdrawn to avoid further embarrassment for the government – Vitus Azeem



[ad_1]

Vitus Azeem, an anti-corruption activist, has said that the Agyapa Royalty Agreement should be withdrawn entirely to avoid further embarrassment for the government.

This comes after President Akufo-Addo ordered the Minister of Finance to return the Agyapa Royalty Agreement to Parliament for review after the Office of the Special Prosecutor sent him its Corruption Risk Assessment report on the agreement. .

During an interview on JoyNews’ AM Show, the anti-corruption activist stated that in view of concerns raised by the minority in Parliament, civil society organizations and other well-meaning Ghanaians, it would be best if the deal was withdrawn for complete and not simply returned to Parliament.

“If I had the opportunity to advise the president, I would suggest that he should avoid further embarrassment to his government by sending the matter back to parliament, he should just withdraw it,” he said.

“Because it is not only what the Special Prosecutor has come out; there were already concerns about this entire agreement on the part of civil society, the minority and some other well-intentioned Ghanaians ”.

According to the conclusions of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, the selection and appointment of advisers for the agreement did not comply with the “foundations of probity, transparency and accountability”.

It also alleged that all the various officials who participated in the processes that led to the approval of the agreement by Parliament violated various laws with impunity.

Vitus Azeem, therefore, does not believe that referring the document to parliament will help address concerns about the deal.

“Your [President Akufo-Addo] the Attorney General himself initially advised against this transaction and you are returning it to Parliament; the same parliament that did a bad job and you are giving it back because you have a comfortable majority in parliament. What do you expect from parliament ”, he questioned.

“It’s not just that the whole problem is not right, but the fact that the processes it went through smelled of something bad.”

[ad_2]