General News of Friday, 25 June 2021
Source: myxyzonline.com
2021-06-25
Peter Otokunor, Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)
Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Otokunor has questioned the Akufo-Addo Government’s role in the several judgment debts awarded against the state in the past few years.
He wondered if the representatives who act on behalf of the state whenever the state is dragged to court over failed contracts with entities benefit from the judgment debts.
Otokunor was reacting to the events leading to the slap of $170m judgment debt on the state, following the termination of the power agreement between the state and an independent power contractor, Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC).
GPGC won a 170 million dollar judgment debt against the Government of Ghana at the London Commercial Court of international arbitration earlier this month for the abrogation of the contract.
“Every country that is serious needs to have enough power for the citizens and that is why we signed a contract with the company to help get a stable power…And even when the NPP came to power, they acknowledged the country had excess power but Boakye Agyarko [former Minister for Energy] said the company was not performing well and that is why they abrogated the contract,” Otokunor said on XYZ Tonight.
He told the host, Prince Kwame Minkah, that the government has a history of creating avenues to loot the country, citing the terminated AMERI, PDS, and Agyapa deal among others.
“In the PDS deal for instance, when they realised that Ghanaians were raising concerns, they came to say they have terminated the contract and tagged themselves as having a listening government.
It is like when a thief snatches your phone from you and you chase him and he gives your phone back to you and turns to tell you to praise him for not bolting with the gadget. That’s how the Akufo-Addo’s administration is,” Otokunor indicated.
He blamed former Attorney General Gloria Akuffo and the current Attorney General, Godfred Dame, for causing financial loss to the state.