Don't blame Mahama for your incompetence over $170m judgment debt - NDC lawyer

He has accused the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah-Dame of seeking to excuse the NPP government led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's "negligence" and "incompetence" which led to the country incurring a judgment debt of $170 million.

He said the current government cannot push the blame on the erstwhile Mahama administration.

The $170m judgment debt was awarded following a power purchase agreement (PPA) with independent power producer Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC), which subsequently got unlawfully terminated in 2018.

A Commercial Court based in London has awarded a judgment against Ghana in favour of a power contractor.

The award of the judgment debt is in respect to a UNCITRAL award worth over US$134 million.

Ghana would be paying US$170 million in damages to the claimants; Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC) located at 1 Airport Square Building, 7TH Floor, Accra.

The award is said to be worth around US$170 million. Under English law, the government had 28 days to bring a challenge to the award.

Godfred Dame reacting to the ruling said Ghana would take steps in appealing the ruling but it would also probe and deal with all those who have caused financial loss to the state.

The Minister and legal government advisor maintained the new administration cannot be blamed for this issue.

He told Accra-based Joy FM the agreement was wrong, had no justification, and the terms of the agreement exposed Ghana to the current situation.

He said he could not understand why the former administration would enter into an agreement that was obvious to cause financial loss to the state.

To him, this was a deliberate attempt by the former administration to cause financial loss to the state.

"The fact, as borne out by the PPA committee's report, was that the agreement, together with other agreements, had resulted in such excessive power supply to the state," he said.

"The state was going to lose $586m per annum and a cumulative cost of about $7.6billion dollars between 2013 and 2018."

"So, I think that when it comes to financial loss, it is so clear in my mind that the responsibility lies clearly with those who entered into the agreement...is that the entry into this transaction was unnecessary.

"The entry into this transaction was what resulted in financial loss to the state," he stated.