$134m judgement debt: I’m not the Finance Minister - Dame replies Kwabena Donkor

Ghana's Attorney-General, Godfred Dame has denied reports that he refused to settle legal liabilities arising from a $134 million judgment debt imposed on Ghana by a United Kingdom tribunal.

Godfred Dame claims he is not to blame because the Finance Minister is responsible for making the appropriate payments to Trafigura's GPGC.

This debt was due to a power purchase deal between Trafigura's GPGC and the Ghanaian government.

The dispute dates back to January 26, 2021, when a UK tribunal issued a Final Award, claiming that Ghana broke its contractual obligation by terminating the power purchase agreement with GPGC on February 18, 2018.

The tribunal ruled that Ghana owed $134,348,661 in Early Termination Payments, with an interest rate of six months USD LIBOR + 6%.

Ghana was also ordered to compensate GPGC for $3,309,877.74 in arbitration fees and expenses, with an interest rate of three-month USD LIBOR compounded quarterly.

Despite the verdict, Ghana only paid partial payments of $1,897,692.40, leaving $111,493,828.92 in arrears accruing interest.

A District of Columbia Court in the United States then approved a Motion for Default Judgment in favor of Trafigura Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC), ordering the Ghana government to pay the $111,493,828.92, plus required post-judgment interest.

Former Power Minister Dr. Kwabena Donkor, who oversaw the emergency power arrangement, believes the government's grounds for canceling it were unwarranted.

He also questioned why Attorney-General Godfred Dame had not yet resolved all of these legal issues.

"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 stated that the attack is part of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC)'s smear attempt to discredit his work 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 promised that a future NDC administration will investigate all such judgment debts and prosecute public officials who brought financial harm to the state.

Source: Lead News Online