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The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Responsibility (ASEPA) says it is disappointed in the police for going to the extreme of obtaining a court order to prevent them from speaking out against Agyapa’s controversial mineral royalty agreement.
According to the group, the police are acting in bad faith given the formal and orderly procedures that ASEPA followed prior to the show.
“I think it is a bit surprising because we had written to the police in accordance with the Public Order Law and we had clearly said what we intended to do on September 21. The police responded by citing a number of issues with which we disagreed. So we ended up with some processes for the demonstration only to be hit with this court order. It’s actually novel, we didn’t know that the police would go that far to prevent us from demonstrating, ”he said.
Speaking on an Accra-based radio station Citi FM, ASEPA CEO Mensah Thompson said the police move was surprising, adding that the group would involve its legal team in deciding the way forward. “We will refer the matter to our attorneys and we expect our attorneys to advise accordingly. But we are disappointed in the police for going to this point to stop the demonstration. “
Court restraint
A High Court in Accra issued a court order on the demonstration planned by the group.
It comes after the Inspector General of Police, Mr. James Oppong-Boanuh, went to court following ASEPA’s insistence to demonstrate despite a police directive.
“The defendants in this document, namely ASEPA and Mensah Thompson or any other group of persons affiliated with the defendants, are hereby ordered to be prohibited and prohibited from speaking out against an agreement approved by the Parliament of Ghana, popularly known as the Agyapa agreement, to which the September 21, 2020 demonstration is intended, ”the court order said.
The deal
On Friday, August 14 this year, Parliament approved five agreements to allow the country to obtain the maximum value from its mineral resources and to monetize its accumulated mineral income for the state in a sustainable and responsible way.
That would be by allowing the MIIF, created by Law 978 of 2018, to incorporate a subsidiary / subsidiaries and use them as SPV to engage in pure commercial transactions of the private sector to maximize mineral royalties from the 12 gold mines, with four in the future. in operation in the medium term.
The approval covered the Minerals Royalty Agreement, the Amended and Restated Minerals Royalty Investment Agreement and the relationship agreement between the government, MIIF, Agyapa Royalties Limited and ARG Royalties Ghana.
The remainder corresponds to the assignment contract between MIIF and Agyapa Royalties for the assignment of the fund’s right to Agyapa to receive the value of the royalty owed by ARG under the investment contract for the acquisition of the mineral royalties assigned from the fund in consideration per shares to be issued by Agyapa to the fund at an agreed price of one billion dollars.
The approval was to allow the country to use Agyapa’s royalties as an SPV to secure approximately $ 1 billion and leverage to finance mines in Ghana and throughout Africa.
The accumulated returns could also be used to finance large infrastructure projects by MIIF.
Through this agreement, Agyapa, which will operate as an independent entity from the private sector, will be able to raise funds from the capital market, both locally and internationally, as an alternative to conventional transactions in the debt capital market.
The funds, which are expected to be sourced from the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) through initial public offerings (IPOs), will be long-term capital, with no corresponding increase on Ghana’s total debt. and, therefore, without obligation to repay the public debt.
Concerns
Following the approval of these agreements, some groups, including the Minority in Parliament, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and some civil society organizations (CSOs), expressed concern that the agreements were opaque and amounted to mortgaging the future. from the country. .
The opposition NDC expressed concern that the agreement was shrouded in secrecy, and its standard-bearer, Mr. John Mahama, notified that he would cancel the agreement if he gained power.
In addition, a coalition of 15 CSOs called the Alliance of CSOs working on Extractive, Anti-Corruption and Good Governance, demands the immediate suspension of the implementation of the controversial SPV, Agyapa Royalties Limited.
The coalition said that until there is full disclosure on the beneficial owner of Agyapa’s royalties, implementation of the agreement should be postponed.
Read also:
Rejecting the Agyapa royalty deal: Prof Alabi urges Ghana’s youth
The Agyapa deal still has unanswered questions; suspend for further discussion – 22 CSOs
Agyapa royalty agreement not suspended – Government
The government is still open to discussions on the Agyapa agreement: Pius Hadzide
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