Mr Amidu, What About The $1.5 Billion Dubious Judgement Debt Agents?

There is no denying or hiding the fact that Ghana has been losing billions of dollars since the adoption of the Fourth Republican Constitution to the obdurate nation wreckers who take bizarre delight in fleecing the state to the detriment of the penniless Ghanaians.

If you may recall, somewhere in 2010, we witnessed how some prominent NDC executives and other policy makers decided to work as the agents of companies which were battling the Government of Ghana over alleged judgement debts.

Back then, the shameful self-styled agents who strangely and openly fronted for those companies carried loads of documents and hopped from one radio/TV station to another in a desperate attempt to persuade discerning Ghanaians to believing their ostensive scheming guiles.

While some real patriots were putting up fierce battle to thwart the conspiratorial plotters attempts to dupe the country, the impenitent racketeers were bent on defending the indefensible.

I recall one current NDC MP, who also happened to be a deputy minister in the erstwhile Mills/Mahama administration relentlessly advocated for a known Ghanaian automobile company over an alleged $1.5 billion judgement debt.

Astonishingly, the said vociferous Member of Parliament forcefully contended that in 2001, the then Kufuor’s government knowingly abrogated a contract the Rawlings’s government had with the said automobile company.

The MP, whose main responsibility at the time was to represent his constituents in the Parliament of Ghana, rather chose to represent a private company’s interest.

Idiosyncratically, however, the clamorous member of parliament insisted back then that the Government of Ghana had breached the contract and must therefore be prepared to pay the judgement debt of $1.5 billion to the said automobile company. He, however, maintained that the management of the company were willing to negotiate the claim downwards with the Government of Ghana.

Apparently, however, the whole thing turned out to be a conspiratorial plot to swindle the nation. It was indeed a dubious attempt to steal from the national purse.

It emerged that in 1999, the then Rawlings’s government contracted the said automobile company to import 86 Mitsubishi Galloper (popularly known as Pajero in Ghana) to be distributed to the local assemblies at the agreed cost of $17 million.

Somehow, the 2000 edition of the Mitsubishi never arrived in Ghana until 2001, at the time the NDC government had left office.

However, upon a stern inspection by the incoming NPP government, it came to light that the vehicles were not up to the required standards and specifications and consequently refused to take the delivery of the vehicles.

According to Kufuor’s government, the supposed new vehicles were never new after all. Suffice it to state that they were slightly used before shipping to our shores.

And, beside the poor standards of the vehicles, there were no authentic documents to ascertain the actual cost of the 86 vehicles, and hence the refusal by the then NPP government to accept the delivery.

Clearly, the then NDC government signed the contract without due diligence. How can the supposedly highly educated men and women put pen to paper without due diligence?

You see, dearest reader, even my mother who had had no education whatsoever would not put pen to paper without applying a little bit of critical thinking. In other words, my mother would ask someone to read thoroughly the details of the contract before putting pen to paper.

So, if the men and women who are supposed to know better persistently put pen to paper without due diligence, then we have a long way to go as a nation.

In actual fact, there was no judgement debt to be paid to the said automobile company contrary to the wild claims by the self-styled judgement debt agents that the government was negotiating with the company to settle a reduced amount in respect of the $1.5billion initial judgement debt.

Bizarrely, however, it was reported that the then NDC government paid a staggering amount of over GH¢8.4million to the company as judgement debt.

It was however alleged that the first instalment of GH¢2.5million, was paid by the NDC government to the company on May 14, 2010, and the subsequent payment of GH¢2.5million was effected on July 16, 2010. The last instalment of GH¢3.379million was paid on 2nd October the same year.

But despite the fact that there was no such thing as judgement debt, some public officials who had sworn to defend the nation were ever prepared to testify against Ghana over a dubious judgement debt.

It is indeed heartrending to see our men and women who are supposed to know better defending the indefensible because of their parochial interests.

But all said and done, it is our fervent hope and prayers that the Special Prosecutor would earnestly pursue the enemies of the state to the delight of all patriotic Ghanaians.

K. Badu, UK.