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Government initiates formal negotiation with Trafigura over $140m judgement
The Attorney General and Minister for Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame is leading a government negotiation team with Singaporean commodity trading firm, Trafigura in a bid to arrive at a payment plan to cover a $140 million judgement debt awarded to them by a London court.
Trafigura was awarded the right to seize and sell property belonging to Ghana in the United Kingdom following the cancellation of a power purchase agreement in 2017.
Property belonging to the Ghana International Bank in London has already been attached for possible auction.
However, Deputy Attorney General Diana Asonaba Dapaah assured JoyNews that her boss, the Attorney General, is on top of the situation and that all state property is safe in the United Kingdom.
“We are working on it because there is a lot that goes with litigation including settlement and I believe that very soon, we should be able to give you some good news on the outcome of Trafigura.
“We are clearly on top of it. The Attorney General has been to the UK to help resolve the matter in the best possible way which would be mutually beneficial to all parties involved,” she said.
Last week, Ghana’s High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland, Papa Owusu-Ankoma revealed that the Ministry of Finance has made some significant progress towards reaching a settlement.
Although he described the events leading to the action by Trafigura as unfortunate, he maintained that everything is being done to deal with the situation.
“We will not get to that stage where these assets will be sold to defray the debts, because of progress made on reaching a settlement”, he said on PM Express Business Edition on November 2.
Meanwhile, as government negotiates to resolve the issue, former Energy Minister Dr. Kwabena Donkor wants President Akufo Addo to investigate the matter.
According to the Pru East MP, the explanations are not enough adding that a full-blown presidential inquiry alongside a parliamentary probe can help Ghana learn for the future as well as punish errant officials.
“First of all, I call for two inquiries – one at the level of the presidency. The president must institute an internal inquiry to unravel what led to this. The cabinet is advisory to the president and not the final decision-maker of the land in terms of executive power.
“Cabinet is advisory to the president so the president in cabinet is a different business because then the president has the power. That is why I am calling on the president to institute an internal inquiry for two reasons – to know where we really went wrong in terms of the process and what lessons we have to learn as a nation at the level of the executive to avoid a recurrence going forward,” he said.
“Another inquiry at the level of the legislature since the decision to terminate was taken by the executive arm of government, it is the legislature that has oversight responsibility over the executive,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
