“You
(Kufuor-led NPP government) had an opportunity to save the nation 5.5
million dollars. And yet, our lack of representation in court led to a
situation where a default judgment (against Ghana) was pronounced by the
court...Nobody can pretend that the Kufour administration’s failure to
go and defend (GNPC) and by allowing Societe Generalle to secure a
default judgment is not an error. It is…,” asserts Alfred Ogbamey.
Managing
Editor of the Gye Nyame Concord, Alfred Ogbamey, has blamed the
erstwhile Kufour administration for the brouhaha over the sale of Drill
ship Discoverer 511 that has since become the focal point of the Sole
Commission set up by President John Dramani Mahama and discussions on
the media landscape.
Contributing on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo",
Alfred Ogbamey averred that though Lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief
Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC),
faulted in the sale of the drill ship; the Kufour government however
failed to do due diligence in the deal which could have spared the
nation this needless hullabaloo.
He explained that the nation
would have benefited from the monies paid to Societe Generale as
judgment debt if the former Attorney General under the NPP regime, Nana
Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and other officials had proceeded to defend the
State in court.
He bemoaned the events that led to the payment of
47 million dollars to the French Bank, Societe Generalle, in a London
court as default judgment.
The sale of the GNPC's drill ship has
since sparked controversy and become a subject of enquiry by the Sole
Commissioner appointed by President John Dramani Mahama to investigate
all judgment debt cases in the country.
The Kufour
admininstration has been accused of a breach of some legal and
procedural matters by the Commission for failing to consult the Board of
the GNPC, which had the legitimate right to sell the ship.
Other
officials of the Kufour government such as K.T Hammond, a former Deputy
Minister of Energy and his boss, Dr. Albert Kan Dapaah, have been
accused of misappropriating an amount of $3.5 million, which was left
after the sale of the drill ship for 24 million dollars.
Nonetheless, K.T Hammond who handled the drill ship transaction has denied any wrongdoing in the deal.
Though
the Kufour administration, through negotiations, managed to beat down
the money to $19.5 million; Alfred Ogbamey insists the government's
mistakes cannot be written off.
“You had an opportunity to save
the nation 5.5 million dollars. And yet, our lack of representation in
court led to a situation where a default judgment (against Ghana) was
pronounced by the court.
“Tsatsu’s mistakes cannot be cover up
for our mistakes. And the Kufour administration did something
wrong…Nobody can pretend that the Kufour administration’s failure to go
and defend (GNPC) and by allowing Societe Generalle to secure a default
judgment is not an error. It is…” he said.
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