Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta
An analyst and a political watcher have warned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to rescind his decision to reintroduce the controversial Agyapa deal to collateralize the mining royalties of the country.
According to the political analyst, if the president wants to govern and leave in peace, he should prevail on his cousin who is the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to halt the decision to reintroduce the controversial mining royalties deal.
The political watcher explained that the decision to reintroduce the controversial deal which was fiercely resisted by some Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) is irritating.
Mr. Jonathan Asante Okyere issued this warning while speaking on Accra 100.5 FM’s mid-day news on Monday, May 16, 2022, in reaction to the reintroduction of the Agyapa deal and the government’s intent to collateralize proceeds from the deal.
“If the government stubbornly goes ahead to pass the Agyapa deal as it did with Electronic Levy (E-levy), we will pour out onto the streets of Accra to protest,” he warned.
He stressed that if the president wants to exit peacefully, he should do the needful and call his Finance Minister to order adding that his style of management of the economy is nauseating.
He served notice that if the president is not careful, CSOs will make the country ungovernable for him.
“If you are exiting why to create more problems for your successor by collateralizing the mineral royalties of the country. If the royalties were collateralized by subsequent governments what will this government be collateralizing?” he queried.
He said under this government, almost everything and funds have been collateralized such as the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GET Fund), taxes on Petroleum products, Road fund, Ghana Infrastructure fund, Heritage fund, and the Energy Sector Levy Act among others.
“What is this government leaving for the generation that will come after us stemming from the way it collateralizes every available fund for loans in the country”? he quizzed further.