Former Auditor-General, Daniel Yao Domelovo has attributed the expenditure made on the botched Agyapa Royalties deal to that of robbery due to the potential corruption associated with the transaction.
He opines that the Agyapa Royalties deal can be compared to a clear case of robbery as large sums of money have been paid to individuals despite the deal not being in full force.
Speaking on TV3’s Hot Issues show on March 17, 2024, Domelovo said, “What has happened since the corruption risk assessment on Agyapa came out especially with regards to monies which should not have been paid, $12 million is not small money yet we are still taxing people”
“In fact, we are moving the country from taxation to robbery instead of production as we were promised. Now we’re robbing everybody to the extent that even your taxes which are used to pay government is still being taxed and this is robbery!” the former Auditor-General lamented.
Domelevo also averred that it is worrying that no officials have been sanctioned for their roles in the deal to date.
In 2020, the former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu published his corruption risk assessment on the controversial Agyapa Royalties deal which highlighted a number on illegalities.
The deal was subsequently suspended by the President following critique by the Minority in Parliament and sustained advocacy by some Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) about how the state stood to be shortchanged in the transaction.
Most recently, it came to light that the government of Ghana under the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) spent about $12 million in processing the now botched deal.
We are moving the country from taxation to robbery. Agyapa deal is a clear case of robbery - Daniel Yaw Domelovo, Former Auditor-General.#HotIssues pic.twitter.com/agQTAjVAQ8
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) March 18, 2024
Credit: ghanaweb.com