Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta says his ministry would be law abiding and obey the directive of the Special Prosecutor, to suspend the launch of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Agyapa Royalties despite not officially receiving a letter to that effect from the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
“I haven’t heard officially from the Special Prosecutor on the suspension of the IPO launch, but we certainly are law abiding and we will do whatever we have to do to ensure that all legal ramifications are cleared. But we are confident that it is the way to go,” the minister told journalists after an EU-Ghana financial agreement signing.
Speaking further in the short media engagement, the Finance Minister noted that the nation’s plan to launch the IPO this year is still on course as there would be no better time.
“The plan is to list Agyapa by the end of the year and I think it is an incredible period, the highest gold prices the world has ever seen and If you have that resources what do you do with it? Do you bury it underground or do you use it for the benefit of the people? He questioned.
The OSP in a letter to the Finance Ministry, has directed the Ministry to halt the IPO launch of Agyapa Royalties to allow the OSP complete its corruption risk assessment of the deal expected to rake in for the country US$ 1 billion.
“In the circumstances, this Office wishes to urge you to abide by the results of the corruption risk assessment it is undertaking on the transaction before moving to the launching of the IPO transaction. This Office makes this suggestion on the grounds of prudence on your part and to also not give the impression that the mandate of this Office on prevention of corruption is of no consequence to the transaction,” an excerpt of the letter read.
