Agyapa Royalties deal not suspended - Government
The Government of Ghana has denied suspending the Agyapa Royalties transaction.
The Ministry of Finance which issued the denial in a statement, said a publication claiming the suspension of the transaction after a meeting with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) is untrue.
While acknowledging meeting with CSOs on September 2, 2020, as part of efforts to broaden consultations and ensure the buy-in of all Ghanaians for the deal, the Ministry said no such decision was arrived at to suspend it.
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"The Ministry wishes to state that, the Agyapa Royalties transaction has not been suspended as is being reported on the Ghanaweb portal. We wish to also state that Mr. Mark Agyemang, Technical Manager of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee, who is purported to have said this in an interview with Starr FM, was not in this meeting.
"The main outcome of the meeting as acknowledged by both sides was that, the government had fulfilled the requirements of the law. There was however, the need for broader consultations to ensure the buy-in of all Ghanaians.
"The meeting with the CSOs was one such consultation and the Ministry agreed with them to further broaden the consultations and to solicit further input from them and other Ghanaian constituencies going forward.
"A number of concerns raised by the CSOs included registration of the entity in a tax haven, transparency, how the values were arrived and what the country stood to benefit from the Agyapa Royalty Transaction. After their concerns were aptly addressed by the Hon. Minister for Finance and his Deputy, they called on government to engage other institutions and stakeholders. At no point was there any suggestion that the transaction is being halted as being reported."
The statement urged the media, being major stakeholders, "to seek clarity, especially on such emotive issues before publishing."
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