President John Mahama will today [Wednesday] receive the report of the Justice Appau-led Commission set up to investigate past judgment debt payments in the country.
The report will contain recommendations from the Sole Commissioner, Justice Yaw Appau on how the state can avert the payment of needless judgment debts.
The Commission began its public sitting on November 28, 2012 at the old Parliament House in Accra and wrapped up the sittings on October 8, 2014.
Prominent personalities, including a former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings appeared before the Commission to answer questions in relation to the payment of over four million cedis compensation to Calf Cocoa International Ghana Limited.
Also, a former Energy Minister under the erstwhile Kufuor administration, Albert Kan-Dapaah, and his deputy, K.T. Hammond, appeared before the commission to provide it with information on the sale of the infamous Drill Ship D511 belonging to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.
Gov’t failure caused judgement debt – Tony Lithur
Private Legal practitioner Tony Lithur has blamed government for causing the payment of over four million dollars as judgment debt to a Cocoa Processing Company,Calf Cocoa International Ghana Limited.
According to him the Finance Ministry’s failure to release an undisbursed amount of $1.8 Million under a subsidiary Loan Agreement to the company for its cocoa processing business contributed to the payment.
“My Lord, the state would have saved $2,350,127.50 if the Finance Ministry had not acted contary to the Loan Agreement signed between Ghana and the Chinese Government,” he said.
Tony Lithur who was lawyer for the Calf Cocoa International told the Chairman of the Commission, Justice Yaw Apau that the Government of China, through the export Import Bank (EXIM Bank) in October 1998 , agreed to give the Government of Ghana an interest-subsisided concessionary loan for the purpose of financing industrial projects in the country through joint ventures between Ghanaian and Chinese companies in identified areas of interest.
Illegal judgement debt payments draining state coffers – Justice Appau
Sole Commissioner at the Judgement Debt Commission, Justice Yaw Appau has bemoaned the rate at which people receive judgment debt they are not entitled to.
He said as a result of a leaked state basket, many people have managed to receive compensation as judgment debt; a situation he described as gradually draining the state coffers.
Mr. Appau said this when Professor Reynolds Okai, Rector of the Koforidua Polytechnic appeared before the Commission, over the payment of compensation regarding the acquisition of land for the Polytechnic.
According Prof Okai, the 78-acre land in question was acquired by government through the Regional Coordinating Council in 2001.
He said the Land Valuation Division of the Lands Commission later wrote to the Institution saying that five claimants were to be paid compensation over the land, because they owned 28.049 acres of the total land.
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