Cabinet Approves Document Spelling Out Payment Of Judgment Debts - A-G

Cabinet has approved a document spelling out the modalities for the payment of judgment debts. Attorney General, Dr. Benjamin Kunbuor, will soon lay that document before Parliament. Dr. Kunbuor revealed the existence of the document when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) this afternoon in connection with the hearing of the 94 million Euros Construction Pioneer (CP) judgment debt saga. The opposition has widely accused former Attorney General Betty Mould Iddrisu for acting improperly in the negotiations that led to the settlement of the judgment debt. But the former AG�s Counsel, Nana Ato Dadzie issued a statement insisting his client rather saved Ghana 68 million Euros in the whole affair. In the statement, Betty Mould-Iddrisu said CP was claiming 162 million Euros but her prudent negotiation beat down the figure to 94 million euros. Dr Kunbuor told the Committee this afternoon that a set of guidelines have been agreed for the payment of such judgment debts to avert impropriety of any kind in the future. �I can announce to you that I was intending to serve you a copy of the cabinet approval that we got on the mechanics on how judgement debts will be dealt [with] from now; the circumstances under which it may arise, who can settle within this threshold, at what threshold should it be the president, at what threshold should be the entire cabinet. All that has been worked out and all that has been submitted to cabinet and cabinet has approved same.� When the chairman of the committee, Hon. Kan Dapaah, asked whether he thought the procedure used in paying the judgement debt to CP was flawed, which is why government is adopting a strict guideline apropos to future payments, Dr. Kunbuor denied it saying he is not in a position to judge the prudence of the process used in settling the debts inthe past. The Attorney General also said it was incumbent on Ghana to pay the judgment debt with or without executive approval from the President. �Once it�s a judgement debt, whether executive approval or no executive approval, you are under a legal obligation to pay; and I am saying that when we submitted ourselves to the ICC rules, Article 26 (8) says that �you don�t only have to be bound by the arbitration award but you waive whatever alternative recourse rights you have. That is the precondition for arbitration,� he added. He debunked the assertion that the arbitration does not amount to a judgement, insisting that the rules of arbitration make it binding on all parties involved.