Entire Agyapa SPV Arrangement Is Illegal, Breached PPA Laws-Amidu’s report

While the Akufo Addo administration and the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta are still trying to railroad Parliament to okay the Agyapa Royalty deal under a supposed “review”, the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, had stated that the whole Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) was is illegal.

Apart from the fact that Deputy Finance Minister, Charles Adu Boahene, did not have the authority to sign the Mandate Agreement that hired Imara and Ken Ofori-Atta’s Databank as Transaction Advisors, Martin Amidu also makes the point that the advice that led to the setup of the SPV needed approval from the Public Procurement Authority.

However, this approval was never given.

This makes the whole SPV illegal because it was Imara’s advice which led to the decision by the Finance Ministry and Mineral Incomes Investment Fund (MIIF) to turn the country’s gold royalty receipts into the Asaase/Agyapa SPV.

The SPO points out that the noncommittal of the PPA to the advice for the partial monetization of the country’s gold royalties receipts through the SPV breaches part VI of the PPA Act, 2003 (663), pointing out that this Act applies to both local and foreign consultants in respect of a procurement entity such as the Ministry of Finance.

Amidu also points out that the appointments violated section 7 and 25 of the Public and Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act921).

The argument was in response to what Amidu called “absurd, stonewalling” tactics that Charles Adu Boahene and the Finance Ministry had adopted when the SPO wrote to the Ministry asking for documents that show that a 6th June 2018 Mandate Agreement he had signed appointing Imara Corporate Finance Ltd (Pty) of South Africa as Transaction Advisors over the Agyapa deal, had been approved by Parliament.

Amidu points out that Adu Boahene had no authority to sign the Mandate Agreement because he was not the principal spending officer of the Ministry of Finance. This is the Chief Director of the Ministry.

Consequently he wanted to be sure if despite this breach by Adu Boahene, Parliament had still approved the Mandate Agreement.

Adu Boahene who knew he had committed fraud by signing the Mandate Agreement took to evasive antics; later writing back to Amidu and saying that because both Parliament and the Akufo-Addo Cabinet had approved the Agyapa deal, it implied that they had specifically also approved the Mandate Agreement he illegally signed. 

Interestingly the Agyapa deal had been approved by only the NPP Majority MPs in Parliament.

The SPO also points out that when the Ministry issued requests for Financial Proposals, it said that, “the Ministry of Finance, as part of its Mandate requesting for financial proposals for partial monetization of Ghana’s gold royalties of up to USD750.00million for the financing of developmental projects as stipulated by the 2018 Budget Statement,” gave the scope of works for the TAs.

These included the fact that the TAs were to evaluate and analyze financial proposals received from prospective financiers, advice government on the merits and demerits of all proposals received to issue gold back securities, negotiate with selected bidders on behalf of government and assist in putting together the request for proposals to be circulated to prospective financiers for the transaction.

Imara is a South African company, which had together with other foreign companies, sent unsolicited proposals to the Akufo-Addo government in 2017, asking to be allowed to loan money to Ghana in exchange for the opportunity to own part of the country’s royalties from gold.

However, when in 2018, the government decided to enter such a deal and asked for submission of proposals from companies wishing to be transaction advisors (TAs), Imara did not apply. Four companies had applied were then compiled and sent to the Public Procurement Authority for approval for restricted tendering.

The PPA which was then headed by the thieving Adjenim Boateng Adjei, approved the four companies. But somehow, weeks later, the same Adjenim Boateng Adjei asked that the list of companies be resubmitted together with details about them. The Special Prosecutor notes that this action by the PPA boss created the window of corruption.

Apparently, after the first submission, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, had met with Imara, the South African company, and arranged for Imara to front for his private company, Databank Financial Services, and told Adjenim Boateng Adjei to create opportunity for Imara to apply.

And so, when the Finance Ministry resubmitted the list of companies, the names had changed with Imara suddenly appearing on the list. Then after the companies had been approved by the PPA for the restricted tendering, the Finance Ministry surprised the shortlisted companies by writing to them that there was a precondition for them to have local Ghanaian companies as partners.

The period within which all the shortlisted were to get local partners was 17 days, which was impossible. But unbeknownst to everybody, Ken Ofori-Atta’s Databank had agreed with Imara to be a local collaborator. Imara subsequently easily won the bid, which Amidu describes as “rigged.”