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�And Says Ablakwa Is Acting Against The State The NPP Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta Akyea says it is ridiculous and �infantile� for any member of the President Mills-led administration to suggest that a letter he authored on behalf of his client, African Automobile Limited (AAL), in 2003, meant there was a written and signed contract between the two parties and that the company deserved the whooping $1.5billion it is purportedly claiming as compensation. �It is insulting to our good governance set-up that a letter from a Lawyer should be accepted as the gospel truth and that the government should swallow it hook, line and sinker�, he underscored. In an exclusive interview with The New Crusading GUIDE yesterday after his said letter had been read copiously on Joy FM�s news analysis programme Newsfile last Saturday by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a Deputy Information Minister, Mr. Akyea stated �the government has now become the Lawyer for the company. From the posture and propaganda of Hon. Ablakwa, it is clear that he has been hired by African Automobile Limited to champion its course� He further accused the Deputy Minister of working against the interest people of Ghana. �Instead of him to find out concrete facts to defend the government, he has been converted because he speaks as if he is the Attorney for the company and that is very weird�. Touching on the substantive matter of the existence of a contract, Hon. Atta Akyea emphasized that �There was no signed contract properly speaking; and I only made inference of contract by conduct�. �A letter from a Lawyer is a claim; what we call a demand notice and it doesn�t end there. The one who the letter has been addressed to needs to interrogate the claims and make the appropriate response�, he clarified. �Any serious government would subject the legitimacy of such claims to scrutiny, seek legal interpretation and advice, and challenge it in court�, he posited. On the question of the legitimacy of the $1.5billion Mr. Ablakwa says AAL is demanding from the State, he stated �I did not put any quantum of amount in the said letter and so I am amazingly surprised that they are talking about this amount�. He answered in the negative when asked whether he had been contacted by any investigative body as the author of that letter. He also wondered why the government had chosen not to talk to any of the past government officials who dealt with AAL relative to the importation of the vehicles. �Instead, the government is in an indecent haste to deal with them (AAL) alone�, he underscored. He also indicated his lack of knowledge of any court action by AAL against the State relative to the importation of the controversial Gallopers. The Deputy Information Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa contended on Joy Fm�s Newsfile that AAL went to Court on the matter in 2004. According to a Daily Graphic publication last week, the company, was said to have imported the Galloper vehicles which were ordered by the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 1999 and delivered in 2001 for distribution to District Assemblies but were abandoned by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) when it took power in 2001. The NPP said there was no contract between government and AAL covering the importation of the vehicles and that the vehicles did not meet the specifications for Ghanaian roads as that time, amongst others. According to Mr. Ablakwah, after the NPP's actions had led to rise in cost, the NPP turned around to accuse the NDC government of paying debts which they claimed were unjustified. MR. ABLAKWA REVEALED THAT GOVERNMENT HAD ENGAGED AAL IN A DIALOGUE WITH THE AIM OF BEATING DOWN THEIR $1.5 BILLION CLAIM ON THE 86 ABANDONED VEHICLES. According to him, settlement negotiation with AAL is currently deadlocked. He added that the matter coming into the public domain was a result of the transparency in the governance system of the NDC.