Full text: NDC's Moment Of Truth on $12m expenditure on botched Agyapa deal
Source: myjoyonline

Good afternoon distinguished friends from the media. On behalf of the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), I would like to thank you for honoring our invitation at such short notice. You are warmly welcome to our headquarters for this all-important press conference. In recent weeks, we have keenly followed ongoing proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, on the report of the Auditor-General on Public Boards, Corporations and other Statutory Bodies for the period ended December 31, 2022. The ongoing PAC hearings have brought to the fore, some very disturbing issues that border on corruption and abuse of public funds by certain state institutions. Of particular interest to us, is the latest revelation about the colossal expenditure made by the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) on the botched “Agyapa” Royalties deal. Ladies and gentlemen, during the Committee’s consideration of the report of the Auditor-General on the accounts of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) for the period ended December 31, 2022, the Chief Executive Officer of MIIF, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng disclosed that a humongous amount of $12 million was spent on the botched “Agyapa” Royalties deal. When the matter was probed further, the CEO of MIIF stated that this colossal amount was spent on the setting up of the stinky “Agyapa” Royalties vehicle, the payment of consultancy fees, the rental of office space and the processes leading to the Initial Public Offering towards the listing of “Agyapa” Royalties on the London Stock Exchange. The Ghanaian public was taken aback by these disclosures, which add to the never-ending list of corruption scandals that continue to plague the nation under the watch of President Akufo-Addo and his corrupt protégé, Alhaji Bawumia. For us in the National Democratic Congress, this disclosure did not come as a surprise. We are on record to have stated that the “Agyapa” Royalties deal was yet another phoney scheme cooked by the corrupt and nepotistic Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government, for the sole purpose of appropriating the mineral royalties of the country for themselves in perpetuity. Ghanaians would recall, that during the intense public debate on the infamous “Agyapa” deal, the NDC took a principled position to stand with the people of Ghana. We kicked against the whole “Agyapa”arrangement on grounds that, the country’s mineral royalties had been grossly undervalued under the opaque deal and that same was going to deny future governments and generations mineral revenues that are critical to the development of the country. Consequently, the NDC Minority Caucus in Parliament staged a walkout when the “Agyapa” deal was presented to Parliament for approval. Sadly but unsurprisingly, the corrupt ruling New Patriotic Party used their numbers to approve the sleazy deal, despite the huge public outcry over the lack of value for money that the deal presented. The Flag-bearer of the NDC, and God willing the next President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, vowed to cancel the fraudulent Agyapa Royalties deal if he won the 2020 General Elections, a position that has not changed. Several Civil Society Organisations, including IMANI, ISODEC, the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), IDEG, ASEPA, ACEP, among others, kicked against this rip-off called Agyapa, based on sound arguments and alternative proposals. As you are all aware, all the constructive suggestions of these groups were ignored by the corrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government who were hellbent on stealing our mineral royalties. Subsequently, the Office of Special Prosecutor established in its Corruption Risk Assessment Report that, the “Agyapa” deal was fraught with procurement rigging, statutory breaches, potential money laundering and inimical to the interest of the nation. Eventually, the chilling details of the OSP’s report coupled with sustained pressure from the NDC and civil society compelled the President to shamefully beat a retreat and refer the deal he had already granted Executive approval for, back to Parliament for reconsideration, pending the 2020 General Election. My brothers and sisters, throughout our struggle against the “Agyapa” heist, we never knew and never imagined, that the ruling NPP government had spent a whopping $12 million on the deal. With each passing day, and as the clock ticks to December 7, 2024 for Ghanaians to kick this irredeemably corrupt government out of office, the countless skeletons in their closet of corruption keep unfolding before our very eyes. We in the NDC are completely appalled by the decision of the corrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government, to spend this colossal amount of money on the “Agyapa” scam, which never saw the light of day. It is unconscionable and, the height of cruelty, that the government engaged in this naked thievery and brazen abuse of the public purse, at a time our beloved nation was battling the COVID-19 pandemic and Ghanaians were already reeling under excruciating hardships. This is very sad and disheartening. Friends from the media, the OSP established beyond every reasonable doubt, that the “Agyapa” deal violated the Public Procurement Act, the Public Financial Management Act and the 1992 Constitution, thus, rendering the entire transaction null, void and of no effect. The most startling revelation by the OSP in its Corruption Risk Assessment report on the “Agyapa” scam, was the fact that some illegal payments were made to certain entities. These entities include Databank, a company which was founded and is still owned by Ken Ofori-Atta, a cousin of President Akufo-Addo, the immediate-past Finance Minister, who has been promoted to the position of Senior Presidential Advisor on the economy and Special Envoy on international investments and the Capital Markets. The OSP also found that similar illegal payments were made to Africa Legal Associates, a law firm belonging to Gabby Otchere Darko, another cousin of President Akufo-Addo. All these payments were found by the OSP to be unlawful, hence null and void. Yet, to date, these illegal payments, which did not give the country any value or benefit, have not been retrieved by the state. My brothers and sisters, we all know what good this colossal amount of USD$12 million, which is equivalent to GH¢153 million (i.e. 1.5 trillion old Ghana cedis) could have achieved in Ghana’s bankrupt economy if it had been put to judicious use. This money could have sufficed to pay the cost of several months of treatment for all kidney patients in Ghana, nineteen (19) of whom died painfully, following the shameful closure of the Renal Dialysis Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for several months last year, over government’s GHS4 million indebtedness. This colossal amount of money could have been used to provide childhood vaccines to protect innocent babies from dying of childhood killer diseases due to a shortage of essential vaccines. This USD$12 million which the country has lost to sheer corruption, could have procured textbooks for basic school children who have gone five years without curricular-based textbooks, after the introduction of a new curriculum. Ladies and gentlemen, USD$12 million could have paid the allowances of National Service Personnel in Ghana who have not been paid for four months now. Also, this huge amount of money could have been used to create thousands of jobs for NABCO beneficiaries who have been sent home after they were promised permanent employment. Again, this colossal amount of money, could have been used to provide potable drinking water, or several CHIP compounds or schools for thousands of Ghanaians in deprived communities of the country. Sadly but very characteristic of the selfish and greedy Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government, they have distributed all this money among themselves, under the guise of expenditure on the botched “Agyapa” deal. We are totally disgusted by this wanton dissipation of public funds on a needless and useless venture by a government that rode on the back of an anti-corruption campaign into power, with the promise to protect the public purse. My brothers and sisters, where did we go wrong? What crime have we committed to deserve this kind of treatment from our leaders? Why are we being subjected to a constant abuse of our meagre state resources by the ruling NPP government, at a time when many cannot even afford one square meal a day and at a time, when our nation is faced with economic bankruptcy, marked by debt default, an all-time high unemployment rate, high-interest rates, high inflation rate and unprecedented hardships? What crime have we committed to deserve this treatment? The penchant of this corrupt NPP government to hide behind crafty schemes such as the “Agyapa” deal, to steal from the people of Ghana is just too much. If it is not about mortgaging future mineral royalties into a phoney offshore entity called Agyapa, then it is about the dubious payment of $2 million dollars to a sham entity called Ai Skytrain Ltd, for so-called sky trains which have never materialised. From the PDS thievery to the unconscionable Ameri Novation agreement, all the way to the stinky SML scandal, this government has been relentless in their greedy pursuit to fleece the state coffers. Ghanaians have had enough of this Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP administration, which has earned the dubious distinction as the most corrupt government under the Fourth Republic. Today, Ghanaians are suffering because the meager resources of the country which are supposed to be put to judicious use for the benefit of all Ghanaians, have been hijacked by the greedy, selfish and corrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government and their accomplices in the ruling New Patriotic Party. This is why today, students are suffering; teachers are suffering; nurses are suffering; doctors are suffering; market women are suffering; drivers are suffering; mates are suffering; Okada riders are suffering; engineers are suffering; pastors are suffering; journalists are suffering; Spare parts dealers are suffering; women are suffering; men are suffering; “boys boys” are suffering; “girls girls” are suffering; children are suffering; and all of us are suffering. We are suffering because of the unprecedented corruption we are witnessing under Akufo-Addo and his corrupt protégé Bawumia. It’s as simple as that. Fellow countrymen and women, the “Agyapa” scam clearly amounts to wilfully causing financial loss to the state, and the culprits of same must not go unpunished. We in the NDC, and all well-meaning Ghanaians, repose huge trust and confidence in John Mahama, to pursue and retrieve the state, public funds that have been lost to looting schemes such as this “Agyapa” scandal, the PDS scandal, the “BOSTGATE” scandal and other acts of naked thievery by officials of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government and their party apparatchiks. John Dramani Mahama has demonstrated both in government and out of government, that he detests corruption, and will never condone corruption, nor shield perpetrators of corrupt acts. He has stated clearly, that the days of the corruption clearing agent, will come to an end on January 7, 2025, when by the grace of God, he assumes office as President. He has said and demonstrated before, that the sword of the fight against corruption will cut both ways under his government, whether you are a member of his government or not. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about our main opponent in the upcoming 2024 general elections. I am talking about Alhaji Bawumia, the failed Vice President and Chair of the Economic Management Team, the clueless drivers’ mate and discredited Flag-bearer of the New Patriotic Party, who has proven to be not only dishonest but also very corrupt. This is the man who orchestrated the stinky PDS scandal by deliberately and illegally relaxing the condition precedent requirement of a Bank Guarantee, thereby aiding PDS to defraud Ghanaians to the tune of GH¢1.5 billion in electricity tariffs alone. According to the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Ghana lost a whopping $2 billion dollars as a result of this scam. Again, this is the man who was named in the Anas Number 12 investigations and fingered in the Galamsey Economy documentary by Kwesi Nyantakyi and Charles Adu Boahen respectively, as a collector, arranger, fixer and receiver of “appearance fees” (bribes). This is the man who attempted to steal ten containers of rice belonging to a Ghanaian businessman for Ramadan donations, through his Director of Administration. As we speak, the said Director of Administration is currently being prosecuted by the OSP. Yet, he still works at the office of the Vice President to date. This is the man who continues to lie through his teeth to Ghanaians without any restraint nor shame. I can go on and on. Ladies and gentlemen of the press, the fact is, “appearance fee” merchant Bawumia is corrupt and cannot be trusted to fight corruption. The only way Ghanaians can get to the bottom of the litany of corrupt acts and scandals involving officials of this government including Bawumia himself, is for the good people of Ghana to resoundingly boot the NPP out of office on December 7, 2024. In so doing, our surest bet of exacting genuine accountability, will be to vote overwhelmingly for H.E John Dramani Mahama and the NDC, to enable us to pursue true accountability which has been missing in our national affairs in the last seven years. My brothers and Sisters, I have the full blessing of John Dramani Mahama to inform you and by extension the good people of Ghana, that the next NDC government will investigate the stinky $12 million “Agyapa” scam, retrieve all illegal payments made under same, and ensure that all the perpetrators are prosecuted. The day of accountability is fast approaching, and no one found culpable will be left off the hook by the next NDC/Mahama government. This is a solemn pledge and our charge to keep when by the grace of God and the Ghanaian people, the NDC assumes the reins of government in 2025. We call on the Ghanaian electorate not to allow President Akufo-Addo and his corrupt cabal of family and friends, to install as President, their puppet (Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia), whose sole mission is to cover up the many ills of this remarkably corrupt administration and insulate wrongdoers including himself, from prosecution. We are absolutely confident that the good people of Ghana will rise to the occasion and reject corruption, nepotism, impunity, arrogance of power and economic mismanagement come 7th December, 2024. Enough of the corruption; enough of the thievery; enough of the abuse of the public purse, which continues to impose untold hardships and suffering on the nation. Enough is enough! Thank you for your attention ladies and gentlemen, and may God bless our homeland Ghana. SIGNED. SAMMY GYAMFI ESQ. NATIONAL COMMUNICATION OFFICER