Former Sole Commissioner, Justice Yaw Appau, has said the failure on the part of the then Attorney-General, Betty Mould-Iddrisu to protect the public purse, contributed to the country’s loss of millions of dollars through the payment of judgment debts.
According to Justice Appau, who is now a Supreme Court Judge, if Mrs. Mould-Iddrisu had exercised due diligence, she could have saved the State from being robbed of the tax payers’ money.
“The Commission noticed that the unprecedented rise in the payment of judgment debts between 2009 and 2011 could be explained in several ways. These include: The decision of the then Attorney-General Mrs. Betty Mould Iddrisu on the assumption of office, to resolve all outstanding claims against the State and some of its institutions through negotiations, mediation and arbitration without first exercising due diligence as to the authenticity or otherwise of some of the claims and; the lackadaisical manner in which State/Government officials handle such matters when referred to them for action to be taken; arising from lack of patriotism on the part of such officers and personal interest considerations,” noted Justice Appau in the Commission’s leaked report of which a copy has been intercepted by Kasapafmonline.com.
The Commission also faulted previous governments for failing to “promptly pay just debts of the State as and when they accrued”.
Between 2009 and 2011, total amount paid as judgment debt through the Bank of Ghana’s Treasury Accounts stood at GH₵378,944,510.32.
Out of that amount, GH₵67,759,027.57 was paid in 2009. In 2010, the amount paid as judgment debts was GH₵93, 214,095.07 while the total recorded by the Auditor-General in his annual report for 2010 as payment to eighty-six (86) beneficiary judgment-creditors that year was GHc275, 917,484.25.
In 2011, the total amount paid as judgment debts to 27 beneficiary judgment creditors was GH₵217, 971,387.68. These included huge payments to CP, WATERVILLE, and Alfred Agbesi Woyome, according to the leaked report of the Judgment Debt Commission.
These figures the Commission noted, were outstanding judgment debts with some dating back to 1996.
The Commission commended Mrs. Mould-Iddrisu for first seeking the permission from the Office of the President to have all the outstanding debts resolved through negotiations but noted that her action wasn’t good enough to protect the public purse.
“The fact is that, some of the debts do not appear to be genuine; however the A-G’s Office that had the responsibility to defend the actions failed to discharge its responsibility where it mattered most, giving cause to those disturbing developments,” Justice Appau noted.
By: Kasapafmonline.com/Ghana
