Suspension of tow levy won’t lead to judgment debt – Government

A Deputy Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has explained that the cancellation of the compulsory towing levy by the government will not lead to judgment debt.

According to him, government sought advice from the Attorney-General before taking such a decision, therefore, all the legalities in the contract were looked at before the decision was taken.

Government announced the cancellation of the levy on Sunday, 20 August 2017 after a section of Ghanaians strongly opposed its implementation.

The policy would have imposed a mandatory fee on all vehicle owners in the country.

This was to help a towing company tow broken-down vehicles from the roads across the country to help ensure traffic safety and reduce accidents.

A statement from the Transport Ministry announcing the cancellation of the contract said: “The government has decided not to implement the mandatory towing levy which was scheduled to have commenced on 1 July, 2017.

“This follows extensive consultation between the Minister of Transport and stakeholders in the transport sector.”

The statement signed by Transport Minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, noted that: “Upon consultations consequent to the calls, government has decided to seek a review of parts of the laws specifically to achieve the following objective: removal from the law, the concept of a mandatory towing levy on all owners and persons in charge of motor vehicles and trailers.”

Clarifying whether or not this cancellation will lead to a possible judgment debt while speaking in an interview with Paa Kwasi-Parker Wilson on the Ghana Yensom morning show, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said: “The government sought advice from the AG’s department and so all these issues were considered before the decision was taken.

“It is not true that as soon as you sign a contract and that contract is cancelled you automatically get a judgment debt. No, it doesn’t work like that. Judgment debts will come in when the contract is abrogated after the company had started executing the project and incurred some losses or the company had done the work and yet had not been paid.

“If I sign a contract with you yet the contract had not been started there will be no case of judgment. If you can prove that you have incurred some losses due to the contract that was signed then you can go to court and seek a judgment debt.”