The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has listed 6 things the US$12 million spent on the botched Agyapa Royalties deal could have done for the nation.
At its February edition of ‘Moment of Truth’ at the party’s headquarters Monday, February 19, 2024, the NDC noted that the amount in question could have done so many things for the country should it have been put to proper use.
At the press briefing, National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, stated that the “USD$12 million, which is equivalent to GHS153 million Ghana cedis (i.e 1.5 trillion old Ghana cedis) could have achieved [many things] in Ghana’s bankrupt economy if it had been put to judicious use.
• This money could have sufficed to pay the cost of several months of treatment for all kidney patients in Ghana, nineteen (19) of whom died painfully, following the shameful closure of the Renal Dialysis Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching hospital for several months last year, over government’s GHS4 million indebtedness.
• This colossal amount of money, could have been used to provide childhood vaccines to protect innocent babies from dying of childhood killer diseases due to shortage of essential vaccines.
• This USD$12 million which the country has lost to sheer corruption, could have procured textbooks for basic school children who have gone five years without curricular-based textbooks, after the introduction of a new curriculum.
• Ladies and gentlemen, USD$12 million could have paid the allowances of National Service Personnel in Ghana who have not been paid for four months now.
• Also, this huge amount of money, could have been used to create thousands of jobs for NABCO beneficiaries who have been sent home after they were promised permanent employment.
• Again, this colossal amount of money, could have been used to provide potable drinking water, or several CHIP compounds or schools for thousands of Ghanaians in deprived communities of the country.”
He added that, “sadly but very characteristic of the selfish and greedy Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government, they have distributed all this money among themselves, under the guise of expenditure on the botched “Agyapa” deal. We are totally disgusted by this wanton dissipation of public funds on a needless and useless venture by a government that rode on the back of an anti-corruption campaign into power, with the promise to protect the public purse.”
The revelation about the money was made at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on the report of the Auditor-General on the accounts of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) for the period ended 31 December 2022.
Chief Executive Officer of the MIIF, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, made the disclosure when he appeared before the PAC, revealing that an amount of USD$12 million was spent on the deal.
The CEO had also indicated that the sum was spent on the setting up of the “Agyapa” Royalties vehicle, the payment of consultancy fees, the rental of office space and the processes leading to the Initial Public Offering towards the listing of “Agyapa” Royalties on the London Stock Exchange.
