‘Nana Back, Agyapa Back’ – Minority Leader Jabs Nana Addo

Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, has expressed disappointment that the State of the Nation Address delivered by President Akufo-Addo yesterday smartly avoided the unpleasant topics of LGBTQ, corruption and the national debt but rather gave a hint that government plans to reintroduce the controversial Agyapa Royalties deal, through which Ghana’s gold mineral resources was expected to be mortgaged, for cash, over a period.

Haruna Idrissu, in a short preliminary comment before he seconded the motion for adjournment in Parliament yesterday noted: “The President, Nana Addo Dankwa is here and has discharged his constitutional obligation noting that ‘Nana Back, Agyapa Back’. There is no comment on LGBTQ, no comment on the uninvestigated killings of December 7…

“Mr. Speaker what is interesting is that we would debate this State of the Nation and we would debate the President’s records. But interestingly he is silent on our national debt. Four years ago, he said ‘I inherited this debt’. What is the current state of our national debt?” Haruna Iddrisu added.

Nana Addo, during his address, stated  “Mr. Speaker, let me, at this point, assure the House that, in the course of this session of Parliament, Government will come back to engage the House on the steps it intends to take on the future of the Agyapa transaction.”

The hint by Nana Addo that his government still has an interest in reviving the failed attempt to set up Agyapa Royalties Limited to securitize Ghana’s gold royalties raised eyebrows and started drawing condemnation just as the first failed attempt that generated a national uproar amidst speculations of corruption and wagging of fingers as the Minority, in protest, staged a walk out of Parliament.

Eventually, it was cited by the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu as one of his reasons for resigning from the office. A development that made government appear very bad and fueled perceptions of corruption.

Martin Amidu had revealed that the appointment of the advisors to the transaction was untransparent and raised the possibility of “bid rigging” and “illicit financial flows”, findings that he says were not acted on.

“The reaction I received for daring to produce the Agyapa Royalties Limited Transactions anti-corruption report convinces me … that I was not intended to exercise any independence as the Special Prosecutor,” Amidu said in the statement that announced his resignation.

Government was quick to slam Amidu and puncture his credibility.

The Special Prosecutor’s office insisted that several processes were flouted prior to the parliamentary approval.

But the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and other government officials rejected the claims by the office.