Court to decide on suit led by five MPs on Takoradi port expansion

A Sekondi High Court in the Western Region will on Friday deliver judge­ment in the case in which five Members of Parlia­ment (MPs) are praying the court to remove a restriction the government had imposed on further expansion of oil and gas facilities at the Takoradi Port.

The five are Kwaku Kwarteng, Obuasi West; Kwabena Okyere Darko, Takoradi; Joseph Cudjoe, Effia; Mavis Hawa Koom- son, Ewutu Senya and Kofi Brako, Tema Central.

Parliament had on July 17 this year, approved an agreement between the Government and Lonrho Ports - a British company - for the development of an Oil and Gas Freeport at Atuabo in the region.

Clause 7 of the said agreement bars Takoradi Port from further expand­ing its facilities for oil and gas until Lonrho had built its Freeport, recovered all its costs and made enough profit.

The agreement further bars all persons or compa­nies from building any oil and gas port facilities in the entire region until Lonrho had recovered its investment and made its profit.

However, the five MPs insist the restriction imposed on a national facility like the Takoradi port was unlawful, argu­ing in their affidavit that the restriction offends Sec­tion 5 of the Ghana Ports & Harbours Authority Act and consequently prayed the court to remove the restriction.

The case, which has generated so much inter­est in the region and beyond, is expected to bring to court high profile

Interested parties are Armah-Kofi Buah, Minister for Energy and Petroleum and MP for Elembelle, in whose con­stituency the Atuabo ' Freeport is to be located as well as the chiefs of the Takoradi Traditional Area.

Earlier in a statement, Alexander Abban, counsel for the MPs, said he was optimistic the restriction imposed on the Takoradi Port would be removed on Friday.