South African National Democratic Congress (NDC) Council of Elders Chairman says Ghanaians can make informed suggestions about the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling on the Agyapa deal after perusing the ruling.

According to Benjamin Kofi Quashie who also doubles as Group Chairman for Allied Consortiums, one can only comment appropriately on the ruling after reading through the court submission to appreciate its reasoning behind their conclusions.

Speaking on JoyNews paper review on July 13 and assessing the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling on the Agyapa deal, the SA NDC Council Chair expressed worry and amazement as to why we're still talking about it.

"I feel that the sensibilities of the Ghanaian people should not be taken for granted… I believe that we wait for the court's detailed submissions to know what is entailed in their ruling", he shared.

He was however quick to add that, the organisations that took the matter to the ECOWAS court have been able to convince Ghanaians about the many challenges that bedevilled the deal. "Going forward, as Ghanaians, when we read what the reasons are of the court, we would be able to make informed suggestions", he intimated.

"Irrespective of the outcome of the ruling, the Ghanaian people have spoken against the Agyapa deal and their reasoning should be upheld in any day", he suggested.

The background to the Agyapa deal has it that the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice (CCJ) has thrown out a suit against the Government of Ghana (GoG), challenging the propriety of a Gold Royalties Monetisation Transaction arrangement, popularly referred to as the Agyapa deal.

Three anti-corruption groups — Transparency International, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) and the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) — dragged the government of Ghana to the CCJ in December 2020, seeking an order to halt the Agyapa deal.

The applicants averred that the Agyapa deal was dominated by “politically exposed persons” and also violated the rights of Ghanaians to have permanent sovereignty over the country’s natural resources as provided under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

However, the court — sitting in Abuja, Nigeria, last Tuesday — upheld the defence of the government, and dismissed the case of the three civil society organisations.