As the government prepares to re-table the infamous Agyapa Gold Royalties deal before Parliament, some Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) leading the fight against corruption in the country have called for Ghanaians to speak up against the deal because it lacks transparency.

According to the CSOs, if Ghanaians do not speak up immediately to stop the approval of the deal, it will give the government the green light to misuse the country’s royalties.

“Agyapa has no transparency provisions such as we have with the Petroleum Management Act where we have a citizenship-led body in the name of public interest and accountability committee ensuring that citizens are able to have information on the management and the use of their revenues.

“Again, Agyapa does not have mandatory requirements in terms of how to use the benefits of our mineral royalties such as we have in our Petroleum Management Act. The benefits of mining largely accrue to the national government. But it is these poor communities that have to live with the negative effects of mining for decades to come. We have to be heard if they want our mineral royalties to be gambled with, in the way this government is trying to do”, the Executive Director of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), Dr. Steve Manteaw, said.

He made this known while addressing a cross-section of the media after a sensitization workshop organized by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition on the Agyapa agreement in Tamale, reports citinewsroom.com

In 2020, Parliament passed the Agyapa deal but it was subsequently opposed by a section of the Ghanaian populace, including some civil society groups, and eventually suspended by the government after an assessment report from the Special Prosecutor’s office was released.

But, during his recent state of the nation address and through caretaker Minister of Finance, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced that his outfit will bring the deal back to the House.

This was after the president, through the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), set up Agyapa Royalties Limited to securitize Ghana’s gold royalties.

As expected, the new announcement has sparked another wave of conversations among anti-corruption crusaders and the general public.