Sole Commissioner urges MDAs to seek AG’s advice

Justice Yaw Apau, Sole Commissioner of the Judgement Debt Commission, on Thursday, urged Ministries, Departments and Agencies to seek the advice of the Attorney General before approving any contract on behalf of the state.

He said the failure of some state institutions to seek legal advice from the Attorney General before entering into contracts on behalf of the state has saddled the nation with numerous judgement debts and compensation payments.

Mr. Apau, who made these remarks at the Commission’s sitting in Accra, described a contract between the Ministry of Health and five contractors in which the state is to pay them Ghc1,471 annually for five years for the maintenance of the 52 training institutions under the Ministry as very questionable.

He said in such a situation, even if the contract is not well executed, the companies will have to be paid, which would be a drain on the national confers.

Mr. Hamidu Adakrugu, Director of Administrator in-charge of Legal Affairs at the Ministry, who was at the Commission’s sitting to brief it on outstanding claims against the Ministry, recounted that the contract was signed in September 2008, and according to the terms, the five companies were to be paid in full for 2008 and in the subsequent years.

He said media reports in 2009 indicated that the contract was not a good one, which caused the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to conduct an investigation into it.

He said the Ministry therefore ended the contract with the companies but the companies decided to sue the state for full payment for both 2008 and 2009, even though they did not work in 2009.

Mr. Adakrugu said the Ministry had reached an agreement with the companies for an out of court settlement in which they would be paid fully for work done in 2008 only, adding that, they were yet to convey the agreement to the court.

The Director said another outstanding claim was a suit against the Ministry by Messrs Tailor and Tailor Company Limited for the supply of reagents, equipment and maintenance cost supplied to some selected health institutions in 2011, at the cost of $878,000 and €7,000,000.

He said the company won the suit and government wanted to pay the amount by bi-monthly installments but the company refused and went back to court and obtained garnishee order against the Ministry’s account at the Bank of Ghana.

Mr. Adagrugu said the Ministry was compelled to pay the Ghc22, 221,000, from the account, which also contained donor funds.

He said another claim against the Ministry was from a family in Ada over a land which the state acquired in 1965 for a clinic, but had not been paid for.

The Director said other outstanding claims were against agencies under the Ministry such as the National Health Insurance Authority and the Food and Drugs Authority.

Mrs Stella Otema Badu, Chief State Attorney said government accepted the cost of €6, 000, 000 and that there is still an ongoing dispute over the balance of €1,000,000.

She said the contract also exempted tax payment, which was without Parliamentary approval, but the Bank of Ghana took away the tax component before making the payment.

Mr. Biadela Mortey Akpadzi, EOCO Executive Director was also at the Commission’s sitting to testify on the issue of payment of compensations to land owners of the Kpalakpa National Reserve Park in the Volta Region.

He said EOCO wrote to the Bank of Ghana advising it to hold on with the payment until they had finished with their investigations into the matter.

The Executive Director said the Bank in a reply to them indicated that payment was honoured before they received the letter from EOCO.

Mr. Akpadzi said subsequently, they wrote to the Lands Commission on the matter, but the Commission in a reply to them said it was a technical issue and that they had done the right thing.

He said based on the Commission’s reply, EOCO closed its docket on it.

Ms. Christiana Esi Bobobee, Administrator of Stools Lands also appeared before the Commission to speak on the issue of payment of compensations to land owners at the Volta Basin which got flooded following the construction of the Akosombo dam.

Mr. Kofi Dometi Sokpor, Commission's Counsel assured that they would go deeply into the matter and all persons mentioned in the report would be asked to appear before the Commission.

Sitting has been adjourned to Monday, June 30, 2014.