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The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working in the extractive, anti-corruption and good governance sectors is demanding that officials who may have violated the laws of the Agyapa royalty agreement be investigated and prosecuted.
The group, made up of some 15 CSOs, believes the deal is completely flawed and cannot be repaired.
“We ask that the entire set of Agyapa transactions be canceled and the transaction agreement repealed. Parliament cannot repair defects, ”Dr. Steve Manteaw said Wednesday.
A Corruption Risk Assessment carried out by the Special Prosecutor, Martín Amidu, revealed that the transaction was involved in infractions related to relationships, conflict of interest, assignments, among others.
The report that was presented to the president on October 16 also indicated that the involvement of Databank Financial Services as a local passenger company as a manipulation by the Ministry of Finance that reduced the risk of corruption.
A section of the public, including the largest opposition party, NDC, which raised issues with the deal’s transparency, is now calling for heads to ignore the matter.
The latest to add its voice to these calls is the Coalition of CSOs working in the extractive, anti-corruption and good governance sectors.
They want the named persons to have bent the rules for parish interests in the arrangement that will be made to go through the judicial process.
At a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, Dr. Steve Manteaw, speaking on behalf of CSOs, called for “steps to be taken to investigate and prosecute violations of any law.”
“In this regard, we challenge the OSP to take the next logical step to investigate and process any evidence of corrupt acts in accordance with its fiscal mandate.
“The repeal of the Agyapa transaction should lay the foundation for a more open and consultative process of options and solutions to obtain the best value for our mineral resources,” Manteaw said.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, responding to President Akufo-Addo, stated that his team performed due diligence regarding the processes that led to the approval of the deal.
On a note spotted by JoyNews, the Minister insisted that his Ministry has been transparent throughout the transaction process.
But Dr. Manteaw says that “this answer, in our opinion, is at odds with the facts that we have now come to know through our interactions with the Ministry of Finance on the subject.”
