EAI PRESS CALL
The Government Could Have Use The $12 Million Dollars To Eradicate The 5,403 Schools Under Trees and Not On Agyapa Deal – William Boadi, EAI
Dear countrymen, the Educate Africa Institute (EAI) discovered on the 25th of May, 2022 that there are 5,403 schools under trees and in dilapidated structures with 2,417. The northern region has 304 schools under trees and 229 deplorable structures. And, over 7,000 pupils lack furniture in the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri district, Northeast region.
Upon all these predicaments some innocent school-going children face, this Nana Addo-Bawumia government has spent 12 million dollars on the useless Agyapa Deal.
Some readers may think that this statement is coming from an opposition party so it is propaganda, but mind you, every party member is a concerned Ghanaian.
Kindly, go over the assertion made by the NDC and published by the 3news.com;
“The National Democratic Congress has accused the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government of “causing financial loss” to the state over the botched Agyapa Gold Royalties deal.
At a press conference addressed by the party in Accra today, National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, accused President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of harboring what he describes as “countless skeletons of corruption in their closet”, following recent revelations at the Public Accounts Committee hearings.
It has emerged per disclosures by the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, that the government has already committed some $12 million to the failed Agyapa Gold Royalties arrangement which came under intense public scrutiny sometime in the year 2020.
Speaking earlier today at the NDC’s ‘Moment of Truth’ press conference, Sammy Gyamfi called out these payments, labeling them as cruel and unconscionable and amounting to corruption and an abuse of the public purse, at the time when the country was still battling the ravages of the Corona Virus pandemic.
The NDC referenced the Corruption Risk Assessment by former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, which established that the processes leading to the approval of the deal, among other things violated the Public Procurement Authority Act, Public Financial Management Act, and provisions of the 1992 Constitution.
Based on the above, the NDC concluded that the suspended Agyapa deal was declared null and void by the OSP, hence payments to certain entities are illegal and have no legs to stand on. The party has therefore vowed to retrieve the sum of $12 million should the NDC and John Mahama win the 2024 general elections, and to prosecute current government officials who were involved in making these payments.
Background
It would be recalled that in 2020, the government set out to monetize future mineral royalties through the Agyapa Mineral Royalties deal.
As part of the arrangement, the Special Purpose Vehicle was to among others list on the London Stock Exchange to trade shares in exchange for future gold and other mineral royalties.
The proposal however faced stiff opposition from a section of Ghanaians, including Civil Society over concerns bordering on lack of transparency”.
Look, let’s put aside every political lens and speak to pertinent issues and slash the rots for this and the next generation. We believe that this particular old elephant must go back to the forest. What we are experiencing is far from democratic governance.
Proposals.
1. The government must provide all educational needs to ensure quality education with the taxpayers’ money.
2. It is time to polish and localize our educational curriculum holistically with serious technical and vocational skills.
3. The concentration should not be on those in the cities alone. We must widen the scope.
4. Depoliticize Ghana’s educational policies, activate the national policy and avoid party manifestos.
5. The government must exhibit leadership and ensure social justice for all.
6. COCOBOD and other scholarship schemes must be awarded to needy children.
We are proud citizens of Ghana. Africa is born in us.
Ghana first.
Signed
William Boadi
Executive Director of EAI, Political analyst, and Social Worker.
+233541935106.
EAI: Promoting Quality Education, and Ensuring Social Justice.*
