Ghana: Gov’t To Probe US$164 Million GPGC Judgment Debt

The Government of Ghana has hinted of plans to investigate the award of US$164 million judgment debt to Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC) by a commercial court in London.

The West African nation signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with GPGC during the previous administration led by His Excellency John Dramani Mahama to procure 107MW of power.

The PPA was, however, terminated by the current administration following recommendations by a committee constituted by the Energy Ministry to review all the power purchase agreements signed by the previous administration.

This development did not settle well GPGC which, consequently, filed a suit at the Arbitral Tribunal in London to challenge the government’s decision.

The Arbitrator, upon hearing the argument put forward by GPGC and the Government of Ghana, awarded GPGC a total of US$ 134,348,661 in respect of its Early Termination Payment claim.

This judgment debt has become a subject of media discussion with many Ghanaians raising concerns about it.

Commenting on the development on an Accra-based Joy FM, Ghana’s Attorney, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame gave hint of his intention to lodge a formal complaint with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to investigate the circumstances leading to the award of judgment debt against the Government of Ghana.

“I, on account of all of this, am going to write a formal complaint requesting an enquiry by the CID into the conduct of the public officers who acted in the manner which resulted in the signing of an agreement which resulted in financial loss to the state.

“I think that first and foremost, the entry into the agreement itself was wrong. There was no justification because their own committee determined that the agreement was going to result in excessive power.”

Source: www.energynewsafrica.com