Agyapa: Let’s Come To Terms With Reality Of Diversifying Natural Resources – Ofori-Atta
Finance Minister-designate Ken Ofori Atta has said that he hopes the entire nation will come to terms with the reality of diversifying the country’s natural resources and leverage them into equity.
It is for this reason that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has asked that the Agyapa Royalties agreement be resubmitted to Parliament, he told the Appointments Committee of Parliament during his vetting on Thursday March 25.
“What do we do with our natural resources to leverage it into equity? I think that is a question that we have to face,” he said.
He added “As to how that is mobilized and with the issues we contend with, I think that is the reason why the president wants us to submit to parliament.
“Philosophically, I hope we are all going to come to terms with the reality of diversifying how we capitalize and fund that transformation which we intend to do.”
President Akufo-Addo during his state of the nation address said government will come back to engage Parliament on the steps it intends to take on the future of the Agyapa transaction.
The Agyapa Royalties deal generated so much interest from several quarters because of the alleged controversies of conflict of interest, amongst others.
Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu’s Corruption Risk Assessment on Agyapa deal also raised red flags over the deal, describing the deal as fraught with corruption.
The Special Prosecutor in a statement issued Monday morning [November 2, 2020] announced that he had completed the corruption risk assessment about two weeks ago and submitted his report to the presidency.