Trafigura judgment debt is not a fresh award - Dame

Ghana's Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame has stated that the Trafigura judgment debt is not a new matter, and that no US court has issued a new judgment against Ghana.

This clarification follows reports that a District of Columbia Court in the United States ordered the Ghanaian government to pay over $111 million, plus mandatory post-judgment interest, in response to a Motion of Judgment in favour of the Ghana Power Generation Company.

Speaking in an interview on Citi Fm, the Attorney-General clarified that the latest court action was only an enforcement order, and that while the government had taken efforts to make payments, the final amount had not yet been paid.

“This award was given way back in 2021 and the government since then has had the obligation to pay and indeed they have been making efforts to pay. It is the failure to exhaust payment which has led to the company seeking enforcement orders in other jurisdictions. It is not the case where there has been a new judgement or a fresh award given by any court or any tribunal anywhere.”

“…The impression that is sought to be created by the publication that I have seen today- another judgment debt, a new judgment debt, US Court awards, there is no US Court which is awarding judgment against the government of Ghana. It is only an enforcement order and that enforcement order is on account of a failure to pay a judgment debt which accrued way back in January 2021 as a result of an award that was given that time,” he stated.

Source: Lead News Online