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Gold 4 Oil: Kofi Tonto Defends Egyapa Mercer . . . Details How The Deal Was Transacted

Kofi Tonto, a government spokesperson has defended deputy Energy Minister, Andrew Egyapa Mercer over his recent comments on the gold-for-oil policy.

Egyapa Mercer is reported to have indicated that Ghana purchased 40,000 tons of oil with cash instead of gold. This has however been debunked by the Deputy Minister.

Wading into the issue on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo', Kofi Tonto denied the comments attributed to Egyapa Mercer explaining that, "Government gave cedis to PMMC and they bought gold in cedis and handed it over to the Bank of Ghana which was then exchanged for oil. All we did was to take the gold; you can either give it directly to the supplier or give it to a gold trader who then gives the dollar to the supplier".

Meanwhile, he has urged that the gold-for-oil policy should not be trivialized because “We are in an economic crisis and in times like this you need to think outside the box and look for ways that will bring relief to Ghanaians."

Kofi Tonto, who was the former Head of Information and Public Affairs at Ghana's Embassy in the USA, further took time to provide specifics of the policy.

Listen to him in the video below