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General news for Tuesday, September 22, 2020
Source: Class FM
2020-09-22
Martin Amidu, Special Prosecutor
The Special Prosecutor (SP) must, regardless of how useless he finds the clues and information provided by informants and the general public, avoid criticizing them to avoid dissuading others who may have information relevant to his office from doing so, the lawyer Ghanaian Prof Kweku Azar has said.
This follows the response of the Special Prosecutor’s Office to a request from STRANEK-AFRICA asking it to investigate the details of the Agyapa royalty agreement in which it described the request as “opportunistic and populist.”
But Professor Azar, in a statement on Tuesday, September 22, 2020, pointed out that: “A good prosecutor should always receive leads, information or complaints from the public, even if it turns out that they are not useful, useful or redundant.
“This is because a prosecutor cannot or does not expect the public to know what information they have or do not have about crimes that have been committed or are about to be committed.”
Professor Azar further stated that: “A prosecutor should not reveal his sources to the public. Nor should a prosecutor publicly criticize an informant for providing information that turns out to be useless. Doing so will only freeze other people who may have relevant information. “
According to the lawyer, this is the reason why he finds the “last epistle of Mr. Amidu criticizing and shaming Mr. Tetteh de Stranek for allegedly requesting his office to investigate the Agyapa agreement as shocking.”
It indicated that: “In said letter, the SP accuses the petitioner of being an opportunist and a populist. I object.
“Rather, I believe that the actions of the SP, obviously calculated to embarrass the petitioner, will have the negative effect of preventing others from submitting such petitions or of providing leads to the SP that may be very relevant.”
Professor Azar added: “There is corruption everywhere. The SP must receive requests, even if they are redundant, do more prosecutions and write fewer epistles ”.
The Special Prosecutor’s Office (SP) described a request from STRANEK-AFRICA to investigate the Agyapa Royalties agreement as “opportunist and populist” aimed at taking credit for processes that have already begun independently by his office.
This was contained in a letter signed by special counsel Martin ABK Amidu on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 to the group.
According to the SP Office, the Agyapa Royalty Agreements and related issues have been matters of public interest since they were approved.
The SP stated that: “It is a notorious matter of public knowledge and notice that this office on September 10, 2020, invoked its mandate in accordance with Articles 2 (1), 29 and 73 of Law 959 and Regulation 31 ( 1) and (2) of LI 2374 to examine any issues arising therefrom. “
The letter continued: “Furthermore, it is in the public domain that Parliament and other public institutions have already responded to the request for information and documents from this office.”
He added: “Your letter, therefore, appears to this office as an opportunist and populist undertaking on your part to take credit for the processes that have already been initiated independently by this office. In any case, your letter containing mere speculations does not present any legal basis for this office to commit more resources to your request from the public purse.
A group calling itself STRANEK-AFRICA asked the Office of the Special Prosecutor (SP) to investigate the entity that valued the Ghanaian gold royalties that were transferred to Agyapa Royalties.
STRANEK-AFRICA, which described the agreement as “shrouded in illegality, secrecy and conflict of interest issues” and therefore contrary to the interests of Ghanaians, also called for an investigation of the agreement.
The group made the demands in a letter addressed to special counsel Martin Amidu and jointly signed by its executive director, Nii Tettey Tetteh, and its director of Political Affairs, on Tuesday, September 22, 2020.
The civil society organization stated: “With this letter we request your senior position in accordance with the Special Prosecutors Law (Law 959) of 2017, to invoke the jurisdiction of the Special Prosecutor’s Office to open investigations into alleged cases of corruption, nepotism , conflict of interest and a general lack of openness and transparency that have characterized the Agyapa Royalties agreement of the government of the day ”.
“This follows the widespread traction that the deal has gained on both traditional and social media.”
He continued: “It will be recalled that last year the Minerals Income Investment Fund Law, 2018 (Law 978) was approved, which created a Mineral Income Investment Fund to which a percentage of the annual income of the mining companies. Government as royalties.
“Subsequently, the government amended Law 978 to ensure that the special purpose vehicles established by the Fund obtain unrestricted independence.
It said on “Friday, August 14, 2020, President Akufo-Addo caused seven (7) agreements related to the Mineral Income Investment Fund (“ MIIF ”) to be presented to Parliament for approval.
“The Accords sought to mortgage future mineral royalties from Ghana using a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called Agyapa Royalties Ltd. in exchange for an initial amount of between $ 500 and $ 750 million.
“Future proceeds from the gold royalties will go to Agyapa Royalties Ltd. rather than the government, and the deal is structured so that it can be executed in perpetuity,” the petition says.
“Agyapa Royalties Ltd. was incorporated as an offshore company on a UK tax haven island called Jersey (Channel Islands).
“The SPV is wholly owned by the government, but 49% of the shares will be sold to individuals, so eventually the SPV will be 51% government-owned and 49% privately owned.
“The SPV will trade shares on the Ghana Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange for the private market.”
According to STRANEK-AFRICA, “The deals for this deal were indecently rushed through the parliamentary approval process,” adding: “Minority requests for certain important details such as the prospectus, details of incorporation, and justification for the use of a tax haven, for effective scrutiny they were not attended to by the ruling government and the majority side of Parliament ”.
Requests for regular reports on Special Purpose Vehicle activities for accountability and transparency were also rejected.
“The requests of the Alliance of Civil Society Organizations that work in Extractive, Anti-Corruption and Good Governance for a complete complement of data and assumptions used in the government’s valuation of the royalties that are negotiated received no consideration.”
“It is imperative that Agyapa’s royalty agreement be thoroughly and immediately investigated by his office: The Special Purpose Vehicle lacks transparency as it was incorporated in a tax haven, making corporate governance matters secretly muddy and make proper supervision difficult. of the company. Mortgaging Ghana’s future mineral royalties in perpetuity is against the interests of the people of Ghana, and Ghana may lose billions of dollars in revenue as a result of this deal. The agreement aims to monetize gold royalties to finance the budget and should have been reflected in the budget statements presented for approval and subsequently promulgated in the various Appropriation Laws for Fiscal Year 2020, but this was not the case;
“The agreement makes it impossible for a future government to replace the managers of Agyapa Royalties Ltd. The asset is highly undervalued according to the current valuation. The deal is shrouded in conflict of interest issues and raises serious ethical concerns in what appears to be a classic case of a “family and friends” transaction: Africa Legal Associates (ALA) are the legal advisers. ALA is owned by Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko, cousin of President Akufo-Addo and Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance. “
In addition, he noted: “Mr. Kofi Osafo-Maafo, son of Chief Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo, is the Executive Director of Agyapa Royalties Ltd. Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta’s data bank is the Transaction Advisor for this deal. “.
He added: “It is prudent for your company to investigate how the value of the royalties assigned to Agyapa Royalties was calculated and which entity made the evaluation. The owners of Agyapa Royalties must be disclosed to the general public, including their credentials and participation
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