Audio By Carbonatix
The Communications Director of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) says Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) kicking against the Agyapa Royalties deal is unacceptable.
Yaw Buaben Asamoa said politicians, just like Civil Society Groups pursue public purposes in good faith and in the best interest of the public, therefore, CSOs trying to create an impression otherwise is unacceptable.
"As a CSO, you can be self-righteous but you can never be sacrosanct and you can't say that everything you say is final and is the right thing.
"[Just as they believe] they pursue public purposes in good faith, they should assume that politicians also pursue public purposes in good faith," the Adentan MP said on Joy FM's Super Morning Show, Thursday.
His comments come at the back of oppositions by Civil Society Groups against the Agyapa Royalties deal.
CSOs in the country are demanding the withdrawal of the deal on the basis that processes involved lack transparency.
But reacting to this, Mr Buabeng Asamoa noted that CSOs trying to create an impression as though politicians are thieves and introduce policies in their personal interests other than that of the general public is unacceptable.
"Politicians are also Ghanaians. Politicians are also Christians and Muslims. Politicians are Gas, Ewes, Ashantis , Twi, Dagombas, and they are also Ghanaians so why is it that if you are a CSO you are more than a politician and automatically the politician should be a thief," he said.
Meanwhile, the Agyapa Royalties is still battling opposition from the public domain.
Minority in Parliament has also raised questions about the deal.
MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam Constituency Cassiel Ato Forson noted on JoyNews' Newsfile that although Parliament particularly the Minority has requested for the document on the viability of the deal several times, Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta on all occasions declined to present the document.
Based on this, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee came to the conclusion that “there is something that this government definitely wants to hide.”
However, Mr Buaben Asamoa is opposed to this view as well.
He said if Agyapa was a bad deal, the NDC government would not have sought to implement it in 2010 when they were in office.
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