Leading member of the New Patriotic Party Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has said the opinion letter from the Attorney General’s office making damning remarks about the Agyapa Mineral Royalties Agreement between the government of Ghana and Agyapa Royalties Limited was leaked for mischievous purposes.
The said opinion letter dated July 22, 2020 from the Office of the Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo to the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta said the deal is skewed against the interest of Ghana. It added that the terms and conditions of the deal are burdensome to the state.
Ms. Gloria Akuffo’s opinion also raised concerns about the seemingly endless duration of the deal stating that the agreement does not give room for assessment of the effectiveness of the deal so as to decide whether to terminate it or renew it in case of any eventuality.
The AG also raised issues relating to the possible violation of the laws of Ghana stating that the deal is in contravention of the concept of separation of powers which guarantees the independence of each arm of government in performing their respective duties as it curtails the independence of the legislature and the Judiciary. It went ahead to state that to the extent that the deal bars Ghana from reviewing the current arrangements with respect to royalties amounts to “sins against the general principles of sovereignty of states.”
But a subsequent letter from the office of the Attorney General dated August 12 indicates that the concerns of the AG were addressed and she subsequently gave her blessings to the approval of the agreement.
“We have reviewed the latest letter under reference and the submitted drafts agreement and note that our comments have been incorporated and changes effected to the draft agreements,” the subsequent letter stated.
It, however, indicated that some of its earlier concerns were not addressed and urged that those outstanding issues be addressed before the deal can take effect.
Speaking on Eko Si Sen on Accra based Asempa FM monitored by dreamzfmonline.com, Gabby Asare Otchere Darko of Africa Legal Associate, a legal firm advising on the deal said the July 22 letter from the attorney General to the Minister of Finance was leaked purposely to create disaffection for the government and thwart the success of the agreement.
Gabby Asare Otchere Darko who is the transaction advisor on the Agyapa Mineral Royalties Agreement argued that there are many corresponding letters between the Attorney General and the transaction advisors so the leakage of only one of the letters in which the AG expressed reservations about the deal was done with mischievous intentions.
“This (August 12 letter) is the final document (from the AG). Those who have leaked this, they are doing it for a purpose. The AG said she has reviewed the latest letter under reference and submitted draft agreements and that her comments have been incorporated and changes effected to the draft agreement. So if you bring out only one letter in which the AG raised issues without bringing out the subsequent letters from the transaction advisors that clarified the issues raised and the AG’s final letter, then you are doing this for mischievous purposes,” he said.
He also dispelled claims that his involvement in the deal amounts to conflict of interest stating that his legal firm got involved in the transaction because of their partnership with a London based firm, White and K which was contracted as transaction advisors of the deal.
