‘Its unpatriotic’ – Hadzide chides Minority over threats to report Agyapa deal to London Stock Exchange
The Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide, has said that the Minority’s decision to report the controversial Agyapa deal to the London Stock Exchange will be an embarrassment to Ghana.
According to him, there are several platforms in Ghana where the opposition, National Democratic Congress (NDC) could use to seek redress.
He accused the NDC of engaging in acts to sabotage government projects and policies to satisfy their selfish interests at the expense of national interest.
The Mineral Income Investment Fund (MIIF) set up Agyapa Royalties as an investment wing to trade off 49 % of its stake in the special purpose vehicle to raise $1 billion on the London Stock Market and the Ghana Stock Exchange for development projects.
The company has been registered in the Jersey Island, a tax haven in the United Kingdom.
The Minority and 15 civil society have been shadowboxing with the government over what they described as the opaque nature of the contract as the government, as they accused the government of with-holding information on the deal.
Against the government’s advice that the move could derail investors interest in the deal, the Minority says it notifying the London Stock Exchange that the agreement “does not meet the minimum requirement of diligence and transparency and minimum requirements of our constitution.”
That decision appears to have irked the Deputy Minister.
“I wanted to point out that there are platforms and opportunities within the Ghanaian system that should be able to address any of these concerns. If they are indeed genuine and legitimate, but the NDC they want to always embarrass not just the ruling party but they want to embarrass the entire country to make it difficult for our policy projects.”
Mr. Hadzide added, “but they prove themselves as people who are not patriotic, they prove themselves as who are not concerned about the national interest, as people who are only interested in the parochial partisan interest”.
The NDC MPs say the deal lacks transparency and has all the markings of state capture.
The government has however called the buff of the minority.
Some economists, including Dr. Lord Mensah have also warned that the controversies surrounding the deal will affect investor interest in the shares of the company.
But Mr. Hadzide insists the deal is without blemish.
“We are well aware that this investment fund was properly passed into law by parliament and that the government has continued to stay within the remits and confines of the law,” he noted.
He was, however, optimistic that the NDC threats to complain to the London Stock Exchange will amount to nothing.
“I am not too surprised the NDC is always wanting to drag the name of the good country called Ghana into disrepute internationally. Unfortunately, anytime they have attempted this, they have ended up embarrassing themselves.”
“I’m not too sure if the outcome of these efforts will be any different from the earlier embarrassments that they have suffered. I can give you a litany of similar embarrassment. The thing is that they always go and get greatly embarrassed. I anticipate yet another embarrassment awaiting them.”
The party has in the past taken similar decisions.
It petitioned the IMF and the World Bank over the Sinohydro deal to transform Ghana’s bauxite sector.
In July 2017, the NDC claims there were suspicions regarding the issuance of the US$2.25 bond to by filing a Whistleblower complaint with Securities and Exchange commissions of Luxembourg and the United States.
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