'Meteorological agency was not party to agreement'

The vehicles involved are registered as GVD 4650, GV 5191 C and GV 761 R.

Group Captain Komla said this when he appeared before the Judgement Debt Commission at the Old Parliament House in Accra.

At the hearing, representatives of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture asked for some time to submit documents relating to the supply and servicing of vehicles from the AAL. There was, however, no written communication from the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, although it had been invited to appear.

Group Captain Komla said until he received the subpoena to appear at the commission, he had not been aware of any case between the Ministry of Finance and AAL.

He later submitted two letters related to the case with AAL. The first was a letter dated October 12, 2001 stating the agency's indebtedness to the company, while the second was a statement of account dated December 15, 2001.

Counsel for the commission, Mr Dometi Kofi Sokpor, said all the disputes were between AAL and the Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) that benefited from the services of the company.

'So whenever there was any dispute, AAL never sued any of the MDAs but it sued the Ministry of Finance,' he said

When the Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning was called, Mr Sokpor told the commission that the ministry had written to the commission asking that the matter be adjourned to the last week of this month.

'My Lord, they are not here because of the budget hearing the ministry is conducting in anticipation of the 2014 budget,' he said.

The ministry would thus appear on September 24, 2013.

As for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Mr Sokpor said it had written to ask for two weeks to locate the documents the commission had requested them to produce.

By Emmanuel Bonney/Daily Graphic/Ghana