News:
August 8, 2018
The Minority in Parliament has indicated its opposition to government’s buy out deal of Ameri to Mytilineos on grounds that the entire procedure is fraught with fraud.
According to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority caucus, they acted swiftly by storming out from the funeral grounds of the late Vice-President, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur to Parliament in order to state their position on the new deal to prevent the Majority from smuggling the deal through for passage by the House.
Addressing Members of the Parliamentary Press Corps, the Minority contends that the new deal in its current form will rip Ghanaians off their hard earned money and called on all well-meaning citizens to speak against it.
Former Deputy Power Minister and Member of Parliament for Yapei-Kusawgu, John Jinapor who addressed the press said the erstwhile NDC government as at the time it was living office, payments to Ameri was steadily on-course.
He disclosed that letters of credit were written for it to be honoured by the incoming administration but due to the vindictiveness of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, they failed to honour those letters of credit.
“Immediately they assumed power, they wrote to the VRA not to honour payment to Ameri”, he stressed.
The NDC Minority stated categorically that if the old deal worth US$510 million is fraud, they could confidently state that the new deal with payment which will span across fifteen years and worth US$1.1billion is “sakawa”.
Parliament, on the eve of recess after the second meeting came to a gridlock when Members failed to reach a consensus over the new Ameri deal in which the government is seeking for Mytilineos to buy out the entire deal.
For failing to reach a consensus, the new deal was deferred to next meeting with the Minority Members who are kicking against the deal calling for a secret ballot to settle the matter.
By Christian Kpesese/ ghanamps.com