The head of the Council of Elders for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in South Africa claims that after reading the decision of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice (CCJ) about the Agyapa deal, Ghanaians can make educated proposals.

Benjamin Kofi Quashie, who also serves as Group Chairman for Allied Consortiums, claims that reading the court submission and understanding the reasons behind it is the only way to properly comment on the decision.

The SA NDC Council Chair expressed concern and astonishment as to why we are still discussing the Agyapa transaction when commenting on JoyNews paper review on July 13 and evaluating the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice (CCJ) judgement on 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.