Source: Myjoyonline.com

 

The Attorney-General has rejected claims of refusing to settle the legal liabilities stemming from a $134 million judgment debt issued against Ghana by a tribunal in the United Kingdom.

Godfred Dame says he cannot be blamed, as the responsibility lies with the Finance Minister to make the necessary payments to Trafigura’s GPGC.

This debt stems from a power purchase agreement between Trafigura’s GPGC and the Ghanaian government.

The case dates back to January 26, 2021, when a UK tribunal issued a Final Award, asserted that Ghana had breached its contractual obligations by terminating the power purchase agreement with GPGC on February 18, 2018.

The tribunal determined that Ghana owed $134,348,661 as an Early Termination Payment, with an interest rate of six months USD LIBOR plus 6%.

Additionally, Ghana was ordered to reimburse GPGC’s arbitration fees and expenses, totalling $3,309,877.74, with an interest rate of three-month USD LIBOR, compounded quarterly.

Despite the ruling, Ghana only made partial payments, amounting to $1,897,692.40, leaving $111,493,828.92 in arrears accruing interest.

Subsequently, a district of Columbia Court in the United States has granted a Motion for Default Judgment in favour of Trafigura Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC), ordering the Ghana government to pay the $111,493,828.92, plus mandatory post-judgment interest.

But former Power Minister Dr. Kwabena Donkor who superintended over the emergency power agreement says government’s reasons for terminating the agreement were unjustified.

He also questioned why the Attorney-General Godfred Dame failed to resolve all these legal liabilities to date.

“What was the Attorney-General’s Department and the Ministry of Energy doing? What were they doing? Did they sleep on the job or they realised that, ‘look, the arbitration settlement was on such strong legal terms that it was not worth challenging’? That could also be an option.”

However, speaking on Joy FM’s Midday News, Mr Dame explained that “the award was final, and my duty will be to ensure that the Ministry of Finance pays.”

“And indeed, the Minister of Finance has not paid. I’m not a Minister for Finance,” he said on Wednesday.

He added that the criticism forms part of smear campaigns by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to tarnish his works at the Ministry.

“I think all these attempts, with all respect, aim to hurl mud at my reputation will not stick because the record will show that in my tenure as Attorney General, there has not been a single judgement debt,” the AG insisted.

Meanwhile, Kwabena Donkor gave assurances that a future NDC administration will probe all of such judgment debts with possible prosecution of public officers who caused financial loss to the state.