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Politics of Thursday, November 5, 2020
Source: rainbowradioonline.com
2020-11-05
Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu
Majority Leader and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has opined that there is nothing wrong with the president’s family and friends getting contracts if their qualifications meet the requirements.
He was reacting to former President Mahama’s outburst over Special Counsel Martin Amidu’s decision to reveal him as Government Official 1 in the Airbus scandal.
Mr. Mahama said that the Special Prosecutor mentioned his name as part of an attempt to “level the discussion.”
He said, “Amidu goes and presents Agyapa’s research and I thought he was quite a man. They say investigate Agyapa, so I filed a report on Agyapa. If you have investigated Airbus, please file a report on Airbus.
“In the Agyapa report, you know that he is going to condemn this government, so you put a paragraph there about Airbus. Nobody asked you about Airbus. If you are man enough, please introduce Agyapa and report on Airbus separately and then I will come to answer you at Airbus.
“But since he is a coward and they knew Agyapa was going to be discussed today, he put a paragraph on Airbus to equalize the discussion. What stupidity is this?
The Majority Leader, in his opinion, says that Mr. Mahama’s act was unfortunate and not presidential, adding that [Mahama] acted out of anger
He said that Mr. Mahama should have exercised restraint in his comments.
It was at this point that he justified the involvement of Gabby Octhere-Darko, Osafo Marfo’s son, and Finance by saying that if they qualified to work on the deal, there was nothing with it.
The Minority in Parliament a few months ago went on strike while the Agyapa Royalties agreement was being raised in the Legislative Chamber.
His reason was that the deal reeks of corruption and he further objected to the terms of the deal.
“The Minister of Finance by presenting this agreement is in breach and is a clear violation of the law and must have reported this agreement with full disclosure in his 2020 supplemental budget to Parliament. Our position is that no future NDC government will honor the terms of this Agyapa Royalty Transaction, ”said Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu.
They also cast suspicion on the roles of Kofi Osafo-Maafo and Gabby Otchere-Darko in the deal.
Special prosecutor Martin Amidu has stated that the Agyapa agreement is riddled with favoritism, cronyism and nepotism.
According to his 67-page report on his risk assessment on the deal, he said the entities for the Agyapa deal were not chosen on merit.
He said the consultations on the deal were not comprehensive and innovative enough.
The Majority Leader, commenting on minority cliques that some members of the president’s family were complicit in the deal, said there is no point in saying that.
He argued that while he does not have full disclosure regarding the aforementioned individuals’ participation, his participation is not wrong.
“What if these people are part of the deal? Gabby is Ghanaian, Osafo Marfo is Ghanaian and if his son is part of the deal, what’s wrong with that?”
He added that if there were people who were more qualified than them and yet got the job, it would have been a different matter, but if he said it without any basis then he is wrong.
Using the issue of former president Mahama and the mining concession to assign his brother, the majority leader said it was wrong but because the agreement did not reach parliament, they [the Minority then] raised issues with him.
“I personally know that Ibrahim Mahama is a miner with a good track record not only in Ghana but in Liberia and other countries. It was only recently that he stopped working there. I was concerned that the bauxite deal had been handed over to his brother. Mahama. He is a Ghanaian and therefore if he is given the deal it would serve the interests of the nation and help the economy grow. Our concern was that the value of the bauxite was not good. We were concerned about due diligence. The second point was that he was supposed to have brought the deal to parliament, but he didn’t. Our concern was not that Ibrahim Mahama was Mahama’s brother, but the deal wasn’t delivered to him correctly. “
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