Kufuor's vindictiveness led to many judgement debts - Ablakwa

Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has accused the former Kufuor administration of deliberately targeting and running down certain local companies and business suspected to be allies of the then opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Mr. Ablakwa claims Mr. Eddie Annan’s Masai Group of Companies as well as others such as Africa Automobile Ltd, IKAM and City and Country Waste were a few of the victims of the Kufuor administrations systematic destruction of indigenous entrepreneurs.

He said the breach of and withdrawal of some contracts to these companies crippled them.

African Automobile Ltd and City and Country Waste are currently chasing the government for hefty judgment debts due to what Mr Ablakwa described as petty and arbitrary cancellation of some contracts due those firms.

AAL for instance is demanding 1.6 billion dollars from the government for the non-payment of the cost of 87 gallopers supplied over a decade ago.

City and Country Waste is on the other hand expected to be paid over six million dollars in judgment debt by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly for which reason a lot of the Assembly’s assets are to be sold.

Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa told XYZ News that some of these judgment debts could have been avoided if the Kufuor administration had not been vindictive against certain companies.

He said “the petty politics, you come to power and you see a company that was doing well so you assume that it was close to the government that is why it was doing well.”

Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa indicated that the quest to destroy some companies is “at the heart of many of these abrogations; where people come to power and because of pettiness they just disregard and disrespect the sanctity of contracts.”

But a Deputy Director of Communication, Samuel Awuku, disagrees with the assertion. According to him, even though there are problems with how such businesses were treated, it must be discussed devoid of party politics.

"What happened to companies owned by Appiah Menka and Apino 2000? What happened to Tata Brewery under the Jerry Rawlings administration? See how they collapsed companies owned by B.A. Mensah of Tobacco,"

He said without looking at the substance of the matter and dealing with its root causes, the country will not get to the bottom of such matters.

He therefore urged the NDC government to stop the blame game and the political equalization.**