A Deputy Communications Officer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Nyamah, has said there should be no concern about the transparency of the controversial Agyapa Royalties deal since the company will be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).
According to him, the operations of the company will be visible for all Ghanaians and others around the world to observe, since the shareholding structure of the company has also been clearly spelt out.
Mr Nyamah’s comments follow claim by Chairman of the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas, Dr. Steve Manteaw, that the government of Ghana and Parliament rushed in approving the agreement.
Ghana’s legislature approved the controversial Agyapa Mineral Royalty Limited agreement Friday, August 14 despite a protest from the minority.
Based on the agreement, Agyapa Royalties Limited (ARL) will trade shares on the Ghana Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange for private people to buy. But the Mineral Income Investment Fund(MIIF) will remain the majority shareholder.
The minority said the deal makes it impossible for a future government to replace managers of Agyapa Royalties Limited although the Minerals Income Investment Fund will remain the majority shareholder.
The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, also questioned the deal and said he will not recognize it in case he wins this year’s polls.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday August 25, Dr Manteaw said : “What we are telling government is let’s slow down…let’s have more transparency, more consensus building around the approach before we go forward with the approach.
“I don’t know of any national emergency that warrants that we should rush the process to raise funds for development.”
“Under the current arrangement, with the Mineral Income Investment act, we do not see any such transparency, accountability and public oversight arrangement, so it makes it very risky and prone to elite capture and abuse.”
But speaking on TV3’s New Day Wednesday August 26, Mr Nyamah said” This thing is going to be on the London Stock Exchange, it is going to be on the Ghana stock exchange.
“You have a Board of Directors, then you have the company itself, the share structures have actually been spelt out, they have told you how much they are going to raise and how much of that will go into the consolidated fund for development projects.”
By Laud Nasrtey|3news.com|Ghana