A Deputy Finance Minister Charles Adu Boahen has strongly justified the selection of son of the Senior Minister, Kofi Osafo Maafo as the consultant and potential Chief Executive Officer of Agyapa Minerals Royalties Limited.
According to him, it is by coincidence that the investment expert’s father is in government.
“It just happens to be a coincidence that he happens to be a relative of somebody in government. So it was more of finding the right person for the job,” the Deputy Finance Minister said at a press conference on Thursday.
The selection of Mr. Kofi Osafo Marfo as a consultant and possibly head the controversial Agyapa Royalties Limited in its new mandate under a Special Purpose Vehicle of managing revenue accrued from mineral resources on behalf of government, has been met with strong opposition from Civil Society Organizations and the minority in parliament.
A group of CSO’s say the situation, could breed corruption and is a potential attempt by top government officials to capture state resources.
However, the Deputy Minister for Finance has explained that government engaged the services of a California-based firm, Kornferry to identify and shortlist a candidate for the CEO position of Agyapa and for the board globally, but insisted it wanted qualified Ghanaians.
“There were 30 candidates that were eventually shortlisted and brought to us of that six were Ghanaians and Kofi happened to be one of the six. He also happened to be working by then with SSNIT, so we then said he was a good prospect,” he added.
He stressed that “Not only that he had the technical knowledge of mining, he also has the financial knowledge. And most importantly, because he interacted with investors on a daily basis, he had a good appreciation of what investors will be looking for in purchasing and accessing this commodity. Going forward, in managing a company, he would have a nose for the right type of investments to make and the conditions around in which he has to make them which is a very key part of this whole story”.
The Agyapa Mineral Royalties deal was passed in the last sitting of parliament despite disapproval by the minority members of the house. The approval of the deal by parliament enables Ghana government to raise US$1 billion through Agyapa Royalties Limited which is acting as a Special Purpose Vehicle for the government.
The debate on the bill generated heated exchanges especially after the Information Minister referred to a minority member of parliament as ‘Papa no’.
The deal has since created a lot of controversies with some Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) numbering about fifteen calling for its immediate suspension and a full disclosure on the deal.
Sections of the public have argued that the deal is not in the interest of Ghanaians but the government disagrees.
