Dr. Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, the Council Chair of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a Policy Think Tank says Ghanaians are vividly aware that judgement debts in Ghana are coming up because of contractual breaches.
“We know that almost 80% of the time, these judgment debts are arising simply out of
contractual breaches by governments and agencies mainly following democratic political
transitions,” he said in a foreword to a Report on Judgment debts the CSJ released on July 1.
The Report titled: “A 20-Year Review of Judgement Debt Payments in Ghana: Impacts, Causes and Remedies,” was released at a virtual Policy Action Platform, which was chaired by Prof. Ernst Ayeetey, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana.
The CSJ’s Policy Action Platform is the Centre’s mechanism for deep engagement with leaders, policy analysts and decision makers on intractable problems that plague the Ghanaian society.
It aims to achieve fundamental policy shifts rooted in thorough analysis, reflection and
practical recommendations to ultimately impact the lives of ordinary Ghanaians.
In his foreword, Dr. Sodzi-Tettey said “This maiden Policy Action Platform is dedicated to the scourge of judgment debts in Ghana,” adding, “At this point, we know that judgment debts –how they come about, how they are decided, often in the absence of legal counsel for the people, how astronomical interests accrue, and how they are eventually settled – is one vicious cycle.”
According to him, six years after Justice Yaw Appau’s sole judgment debt commission’s report, “the people of Ghana continue to bleed and suffocate from reckless stewardship of our national resources.”
“The most recent award of a judgment debt of $170M against the government of Ghana by the Arbitration Tribunal in the GPGC Ltd versus Government of Ghana case, and the spurious reasons adduced by Ghana’s legal counsel for non-compliance with timelines stipulated by the Court, are particularly emblematic of how lightly the problem continues to be viewed,” he lamented.
The CSJ Council Chair stated that “Clearly, the phenomenon of judgment debts is entrenched only because of negligence, blatant disregard for public procurement laws, illegal abrogation of contracts, and corrupt activities by public officials in their line of duty. Judgement debts are thus a tedious combination of weak and corrupt political leadership and bureaucracy and wanton disregard for the scarce resources of the people of Ghana, resources that could have built countless hospitals, affordable housing and schools.”
“Ironically, a country that continues to rely so heavily on donor funds appears able, ready and so willing to waste so much, thus raising questions of whether Ghana really needs aid,” Dr. Sodzi-Tettey stated.
According to him, “In the presence of funding gaps and within the context of the rising public debt and high interest costs of the country’s public debt, all of which limit our ability as a country to provide the much-needed amenities and support for the vulnerable in our society, donor assistance in the form of grants has been valuable to the Ghanaian economy.”
He, however, expressed worry the extent of wasteful resources on judgment debt provides no moral justification for donor assistance.
He said among other recommendations in the Report, the Centre for Social Justice is making a strong call for the Special Prosecutor and relevant anti-corruption agencies to commence a full investigation into judgment debt awards and payments, effective 1992 at the start of the Fourth Republic to date.
“Further, we ask that investigations be followed by robust prosecutions of culpable political and public office holders. We complement this with other recommendations targeting systemic changes in the contracting, abrogation and delayed payment processes that inevitably lead to the award of mind-boggling judgment debts,” he pointed out.
He emphasised that the CSJ intends to engage directly with the Presidency, relevant agencies and leadership of the major political parties on these recommendations.
He commended Dr. Theresa Mannah-Blankson, Haruna Alhassan, Prisca Atogsiyah, Theodore Albright Esq., and Rosemary Seneadza, CSJ Fellows on the joint Finance and Legal teams that led in the detailed Report analysis.
Incredibly Too bad there arent many blogs of this calibre today. I think the second paragraph pretty much says everything.