The Director of Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the Presidency has raised concerns over the politicization of judgment debts in the country, saying it has the potential to plunge the nation into serious crisis.
Dr Tony Aidoo says it is unfortunate the level of politicization of the issue of judgment debts and believes the time has come for Ghanaians to reconcile their political differences and see the bigger picture of the threat to the country�s sovereignty which the debts represent.
According to him, in some cases it is clear that the "indiscipline and the malfeasance of government officials" both past and present, who have been paid to safeguard the national interest led to these judgements debts which he says threatens the very stability of the nation.
His comment follows on the heels of mounting public outcry over the payment of huge sums of money to private individuals and corporate institutions by the government, most of which have been occasioned by court rulings or out-of-court settlements between the state and the aggrieved parties, and calls by four governance think-tank institutions for public inquiry into the causation of these indebtedness.
Some of these judgement debts arise from the alleged illegal termination of various contracts initially entered into between the Government of Ghana and some individuals and institutions.
And the four institutions, the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA), the Forum for Governance and Justice (FGJ) and the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) believe findings and recommendations of the commission, would serve notice to public and government officials that they would be held accountable, even personally liable, should their actions or inaction lead to needless and preventable judgement debts.
Speaking on Okay FM�s �Ghana Decides� Political program, which airs every weekday between the hours of 1pm and 2:30pm, Dr. Tony Aidoo told Tweneboah Koduah (TK), host of the show he backs calls for a non-partisan commission of inquiry into the circumstances under which the numerous judgments debts came about and how some of the settlements were arrived at.
�I agree with calls that a public inquiry should be set to look into these judgment debt crises. We don�t have to play politics with the issue because this is a matter of public interest. We must put our public interest first before our political or partisan political considerations. What we have to do is to investigate the circumstances under which the numerous debts came about, why it was not paid till it accumulated for it to be taken to court to become judgment debts,� he noted.
The former Deputy Minister of Defence in the NDC 1 regime said the acts of commission or omission that led to some of these indebtedness developing from moulds into mountains and the processes by which these debts are being disposed of, has greatly tarnished the image of Ghanaians thus reducing us to simpletons in the minds of some people.
�This is embarrassing to all Ghanaians because the payment of these judgment debts has created some impression in the minds of people outside the country that Ghanaians are easy pickings; that any Tom, Dick or Harry can come and cash in at our expenses and to the detriment of our nation,� he added.
He added that government officials and ministers or ex-ministers of state are not the only causatives of judgement debts since sometimes even drivers of state agencies, Chief Directors; Heads of Departments among others are culpable.
Dr Tony Aidoo also noted that not every payment of monies can be classified as judgment debt, citing an instance where a civil servant runs into somebody with an official vehicle. But since the driver was not on an official assignment he is supposed to be held accountable not the state.
According to him, it is called �vicarious liability� and it can only take effect after it has been proven that the person who caused the damage caused it inevitably in the process of performing an authorized task.
He urged politicians to rise above their parochial political interests and seek the interest of the nation first in all their undertakings.
Source: Beatrice Adepa Frempong/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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