[ad_1]
A group of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) reiterates calls for the government to suspend the implementation of the Agyapa Mineral Royalties agreement.
This, according to CSOs, is because the government is massaging the data made available through the Ministry of Finance.
“In our last meeting with the Ministry, some slides were presented that contained some data.”
“However, when we requested copies, those particular slides we are interested in were omitted, either deliberately or inadvertently,” said a spokesperson for the group, Dr. Steve Manteaw, at a press conference in Accra.
According to him, the development has raised more concerns and questions about the deal, hence the demand for immediate suspension.
“It is not enough for the Minister of Finance or the government to ask citizens to trust their sincerity and experience.”
“It would not be right for them to try to wipe out a controversial transaction like this one about which experts and ordinary people have raised genuine questions.”
“We therefore reiterate our call on the government to suspend the implementation of this transaction pending a national dialogue on the options available to optimize Ghana’s mineral royalties,” Manteaw said.
The CSO lawsuit follows weeks of heated debate over the controversial deal that is allegedly being secretly implemented.
The minority in Parliament, along with the opposition NDC and its standard-bearer, John Dramani Mahama, have already threatened to revoke the agreement if the PNP leaves power on December 7.
They had also accused the government of not being transparent about the transaction.
Describing the allegations as unfounded, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta argued that the government has released all relevant details about the deal.
He told JoyNews Newsfile presenter Samson Lardy Ayenini that while the government will not suspend the deal, his sector will seek an audience with members of the Council of State, the National House of Chiefs, and CSOs to resolve all concerns raised. .
But in response to this, the group under the name of ‘Alliance of CSOs working on Extractive, Anti-Corruption and Good Government’ described the statement as unfortunate.
They believe that the current stance of the Finance Ministry on the deal raises questions about the government’s intention.
“While the Finance Minister has responded favorably to the call for further consultations, he has publicly stated that he will go ahead with the transaction regardless of the serious concerns raised by a large portion of the Ghanaian population.”
“This position raises doubts about the authenticity of the commitment to carry out more consultations.”
“So far we have been limited in our analysis of this transaction by our inability to access the full complement of data and assumptions used in the government’s valuation of the royalties being traded,” concluded Dr. Manteaw.
