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Parliament’s Finance Committee Chairman Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah says Special Counsel Martin Amidu did a sloppy job in his Assessment of Corruption Risk in the Agyapa Royalty Agreement.
When interacting with the media in Parliament on Tuesday, Dr. Yeboah said that while reading the report, it became clear that the Special Prosecutor was on “a fishing expedition.”
It describes the report as inconclusive and insists that the Special Prosecutor did not do a thorough job.
“It has been a very sloppy job because [Martin Amidu] declares our work, but did not even speak to me, the chairman of the Finance Committee. He came to Parliament to compile reports on the work we have done as if he was behind us for information.
“This work began in 2018 with the approval of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) Law. They have been with the committee for about two years, so he suggests that he doesn’t think the committee did a full job. [is bad], “he stated.
A corruption risk assessment report prepared by the Special Prosecutor concluded that there were violations of the Public Procurement Law and the Public Finance Management Law with respect to how transaction advisers were hired.
Martin Amidu stated that the process raised reasonable suspicions of bid rigging and corruption.
He also claimed that the hiring of service providers for the transaction also led to possible cronyism, nepotism and could result in illicit financial activities and money laundering.
Since then, the president has referred the agreement to Parliament for review.
However, the New Juaben South lawmaker insists that deliberations on the Agyapa deal are closed until there is a rescission motion or some new material is presented to Parliament.
Meanwhile, Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has described claims that Parliament did a poor job with the Agyapa royalty deal prior to approval as absurd.
He also questioned whether the critics knew better than the MPs.
“You can think of guesswork. When someone sits down somewhere and makes a final pronouncement, ask them if they have seen it. If they haven’t seen it, then what’s the point in criticizing it, ”he emphasized.
Mr. Kyei Mensah Bonsu disagreed with the Special Prosecutor’s opinion that the establishment of Agyapa in a tax haven was out of place.
However, he admits that Parliament is sometimes challenged when considering documents because it does not have experts to advise them.
The minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu, for his part, lobbied for the punishment of government officials involved in the Agyapa Royalty deal after the Special Prosecutor concluded that there were illegalities in the transaction.
Iddrisu emphasized that referring the agreement to Parliament for review is not sufficient and noted that Parliament cannot remedy the shortcomings raised by the Special Prosecutor.
Later, Iddrisu added that NDC MPs in Parliament feel vindicated because they were right about the poor quality of treatment.
