Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance has rejected claims that the Attorney-General was sidelined in the process leading up to the ratification of the Agyapa Royalties deal.

Ofori-Atta disclosed on Newsfile that the counsel of the Attorney General was sought and considered by the government before the deal was approved.

“The dialogue that the AG was not involved is palpably wrong. The AG is to interrogate anything you bring and she may have a different view, you discuss it and then she understands how far she wants you to go with the republic as the preeminent reason why she does things. So that dialogue can not be misconstrued as the AG not participating”.

The Finance Minister’s comment comes on the back of reports that the advice given the government by the AG was not considered in the deal.

A leaked document from the office of the AG highlighted several ills with the deal which she described as ‘unconscionable.

The AG in the statement was unsure about certain aspects of the deal and also drew the government’s attention to the fact that the deal frowns upon the principle of separation of powers.

“This will amount to executive interference of the powers of the judiciary, which is a violation of the concept of separation of powers as provided under the Constitution of Ghana. Therefore, the executive arm of government cannot enter into an agreement that curtails the independence of both the Legislature and the Judiciary.”

Also, Think Tank, IMANI Africa alleged that the President gave an executive order to the deal in March before seeking counsel from the AG in May.

Ken Ofori-Atta, however, says the leaked document which was dated is one of a number of exchanges that ensued between the AG and the presidency before the deal was approved.

He also downplayed suggestions that the Agyapa Deal has been shrouded in secrecy. Ofori-Atta defended that the government was transparent with Ghanaians.

“I am not sure what we did not give to the Parliamentarians through the Finance Committee during the various meetings that we had. I don’t know what else is a mystery really about this transaction”.

“This has been in effect, a 4-year process. I say 4 years because NDC had 2010 and 2011 in which they examined this module of paradigm and Parliament has been in discussions on the deal since 2018 so I don’t know why anybody can pretend that it has not been public,” he said.



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