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DOCUMENTS REGARDING a consent judgment sum of GH�203,000.00 (20.3 billion old cedis) that the state was made to pay which accrued an additional sum of $4.9m as interest for four months delay could still not be traced according to the judicial service. The consent judgment was because government failed to honour its part of a contract the ministry of agriculture entered with Delta Foods Limited to supply 21,000 metric tonnes of white maize. The delay of the payment was attributed to the judicial service�s inability to release the money paid into their account to be released to Delta Foods resulting in the huge interest, but the Chief Registrar of Finance at the Judicial Service, Bernard Afatsawo said the four months delay could not be blamed on them. According to him, though they have not have not been able to locate the documents, the order to release the money was delayed. �My Lord, with the greatest respect, we have not been able to locate this document as at now but My Lord, records available to me indicate that monies were transferred into the judicial service account at the bank of Ghana to be paid to Delta Foods and the records I have with me also indicates that the transfer was made to Delta Foods on 10 March 2000.� According to him, �My Lord the money was transferred on 24 November 1999. The money was transferred to delta food on March 10,2000. Four months after it has been transferred into their account.� Explaining what might have accounted for the delay he said, �My Lord, Ii know when monies are paid into court and applicants of the money does not apply for the director of finance, for the money to be released, it will be very difficult for the director of finance to do so, so I believed probably the applicant did not apply on time.� Earlier when the chief manager of the banking department of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Eric Kweku Hammond took his turn at the commission investigating into judgment debts matters he said they can only attest to the instruction it got from the Controller and Accountant General�s department. Mr. Hammond said, �My Lord, we received a payment instruction from the controller and accountant general�s department dated November 24, 1999 to make a payment of an amount 20.3 billion cedis to the judiciary deposits account number 0125660049003.� According to him, the payment instructions received from the controller and accountant general department specified that the payment was in respect of judgment debt settlement to Delta Foods Limited, and by a copy of that letter, the judicial secretary was informed as such, so that was the directive we received from the controller and accountant general department. �My Lord, in addition to the payment for 20.3 billion Ghana cedis which payment we made in Ghana we received two additional payment instructions to make payment this time round in foreign currency offshore. �The sum total amount which we made in two installments came to $4.9m dollars, the first one we made a transfer of 2.5 million dollars, the final settlement we made a payment of 2.4 million dollars.� He further told the commission chaired by justice Yaw Apau that, the document �we received did indicate that the two additional payments also resulted from judgment debt in this case the judgment was given in the united states of America and not in Ghana.� Asked by counsel of the commission Kofi Dometi Sokpor why the delay, he replied, �My Lord, regarding the delay in payment in my candid opinion the bank acted expeditiously and timorously, because the first instruction from the controller and accountant generals department asked us to make a transfer of 20.3 billion cedis into the judiciary service deposit account. And that that instruction came on November 24, 1999, that we did. �Now the subsequent instruction that came for us to make the transfer from the judiciary service account into the plaintiff account came to us on March 10, 2000. My Lord the bank did not accede to the request because ordinarily the bank will take instructions from account holders only since Delta foods limited were not account holders so far as the bank is concerned we have no obligation to respond to their requests.� Justice Apau observed through documents available to the commission that, after the judgment was entered here the state did not pay the money on time so they took an action in Washington to enforce the high court judgment here. �The US court also gave a judgment by then the cedi had depreciated, that accounted for the extra $4.9m that was paid outside, so it was in addition to the 20.3 billion. The 20.3 billion was not paid on time that is why the 4.9$million.�