Communications Director of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Sammy Gyami has once again taken on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, this time indicting the president as complicit in the Agyapa Gold Royalties Management Deal which his party (NDC) has described as laden with illegalities, greed, corruption, cronyism and state-capture.

According Sammy Gyamfi, the President gave himself up when he “affirmed his confidence in his cousin the Finance Minister, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of corruption against him.”

These comments by the NDC National Executive comes after the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu submitted a report on his corruption risk assessment of the Agyapa deal in which he described it as susceptible to “nepotism, cronyism and favouritism, as well as lacking probity and accountability.

Sammy Gyamfi in a statement adds that the National Democratic Congress is not surprised by the president’s actions since he has become a promoter of nepotism which he says is inseparable from corruption.

“We in the NDC are not in the least surprised by this, because this is exactly what nepotism does to a country. It weakens the will and ability of leaders to crack the whip on their errant and corrupt appointees. Fact is, nepotism and corruption are inseparable bed-fellows. The former will always breed the latter,” he wrote.

Labelling the Agyapa deal which the president has directed the Finance Minister to resubmit to parliament for rectification as null and void, Sammy Gyamfi challenged President Akufo-Addo to “retrieve for the state, the billions of taxpayers monies that have been paid to Databank, which is owned by his cousin Ken Ofori Atta and African Legal Associates, which is owned by another cousin of his, Gabby Otchere Darko and their cronies under the ‘Agyapa’ transaction.

Again, Sammy Gyamfi called on the president to prove he has integrity by suspending “with immediate effect, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, his Deputy, Charles Adu Boahen and all his officials who are directly or indirectly involved in the stinking ‘Agyapa’ heist, pending criminal investigations into the scandal.”

He further questioned why the Special Prosecutor has not already charged the Finance Minister and his Deputy for what he says is their violation of Public Procurement Law.

Read below the full statement by the NDC’s Director of Communications:

Folks, the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu has only found out what we in the NDC, and many patriotic CSOs like IMANI, ISODEC, PIAC, ASEPA, GII, IDEG, and others, have always known about the stinking “Agyapa” Deal.

The NDC has maintained throughout, that the “Agyapa” deal is laden with illegalities, greed, corruption, cronyism and state-capture. This is why the NDC minority boycotted the approval of the deal in Parliament. And this is why, our leader, H.E John Dramani Mahama and the party have vehemently opposed the deal right from the outset.

The fact that President Akufo-Addo has affirmed his confidence in his cousin the Finance Minister, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of corruption against him, confirms his complicity in this whole “Agyapa” heist. We in the NDC are not in the least surprised by this, because this is exactly what nepotism does to a country. It weakens the will and ability of leaders to crack the whip on their errant and corrupt appointees. Fact is, nepotism and corruption are inseparable bed-fellows. The former will always breed the latter.

What we should be interested in as a country at this stage, is for President Akufo-Addo to first and foremost, retrieve for the state, the billions of taxpayers monies that have been paid to Databank, which is owned by his cousin and Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta and African Legal Associates, which is owned by another cousin of his, Gabby Otchere Darko and their cronies under the “Agyapa” transaction. Since the deal is null and void for illegality, all payments made under same to Databank, African legal associates and their cronies are void and must be refunded to the state. You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand (nemo dat quod non habet). We need our money now!

Secondly, if President Akufo-Addo has any integrity left, he must suspend with immediate effect, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, his Deputy, Charles Adu Boahen and all his officials who are directly or indirectly involved in the stinking “Agyapa” heist, pending criminal investigations into the scandal. Procurement rigging and money laundering are serious crimes which cannot be addressed by Parliament but rather, our criminal justice system. That is what any truly incorruptible President will do under the circumstances. Don’t forget, that some people are currently languishing in jail for similar procurement breaches.

In fact, I wonder why the OSP has not charged the finance minister and his deputy for their violation of the Public Procurement Law yet? The OSP is mandated by law to investigate and prosecute among other offenses, procurement breaches. So What is Martin Amidu waiting for?

Friends, there is no gainsaying the fact that, the “Agyapa” deal is a serious indictment on the integrity and judgment of President Akufo-Addo, his government, the NPP and all their surrogates who supported the deal, in spite of the existence of overwhelming evidence that showed that the deal was fraught with illegalities, cronyism, greed, thievery and corruption.

The call by President Akufo-Addo to have this matter deferred until after the elections clearly shows that he has no interest in safeguarding the resources of this country and has not given up on this “Agyapa” heist yet. All he dreams of is four more years to steal more and advance his family's rape of the nation's resources.

Certainly, Akufo Addo and the NPP cannot be trusted with another mandate to protect and manage the resources of this country. We cannot give them four more years, to steal more from the state. First, it was the BOSTGATE scandal, then the AMERI novation scandal, then came PDS scam, then PPA Contracts for sale scandal, and now Agyapa. This criminal enterprise will one day sell Ghana itself if they are not booted out of office on 7th December, 2020.

May God bless the NDC Minority and all CSOs and media personalities who courageously stood against this broad-daylight “Agyapa” heist. Future generations will salute our diligence and patriotism.

SAMMY GYAMFI Esq.
(National Communication Officer, NDC)