War At PAC Sitting: Kunbuor And Kan-Dapaah Trade Words

Tempers nearly flared at Wednesday's sitting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) when the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor and the Chairman of the PAC, Hon Albert Kan Dapaah, crossed swords over the former's earlier assertions at previous proceedings.

Drama unfolded when the A-G beat a quick conditional retreat about his earlier claim that his predecessor Betty Mould-Iddrisu beat down from 614 million Euros to 94 million Euros to be paid to Construction pioneers as judgment debt.

His predecessor had earlier said she negotiated the award down from 153 million Euros to 94 million Euros.

At his last appearance on June 12, the A-G tabled to the Committee, a document from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on the ruling between CP and the Government of Ghana to that effect.

He however said the 614 million euros was one of the claims made by CP in the cause of the negotiations.

For close to 30minutes both distinguished personalities fenced around the issue as the A-G insisted that Hon Albert Kan-Dapaah was mixing up two entirely different issues, with the PAC Chairman pointing to statements made by Dr Kunbour as basis for his assertions.

When the Chairman of the PAC sought to suggest to him that he (Kunbuor) lied to the committee since statements he made at his earlier appearance were at variance with the evidence at their disposal, a gravely offended Dr Kunbour told the Chairman that it cannot be so.

As the PAC Chairman tried to refer to statements made by the A-G at his last appearnce, Dr Kunbour raised objections wondering why Hon Kan Dapaah's minutes of his (Kunbour's) earlier appearnce contained more pages than what the other members of the committee had.

He (Kunbour) then indicated that he can only avail himself for further questionings based on audio and visual recordings of previous appearances, since he believed the translations on paper before the committee are not entirely what he said.

He accused the PAC Chairman of fishing for information and being partisan in the discharge of his duties to which, a clearly riled Kan Dapaah pointed out to him that he (Kunbour) had been economical with the truth and had been found out.

The committee agreed and fixed hearing for the next day but the A-G stated that he can only be available in two weeks time.

Meanwhile, if Ghanaians thought the issue of judgements debts was about to die out of public discussion anytime soon, then they are in for the surprise of their lives.

This follows remarks by Dr Benjamin Kunbuor that he "can see many more judgment debts coming.”

“My experience in this few months in the Attorney General’s Department tells me that if we want to move this country forward we would have to engage issues in a very objective manner. I can tell you that I can see many more judgment debts coming but unfortunately the law will not allow me to intervene,” he said on Wednesday when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee

Dr Kunbour called on Ghanaian individuals and organisations to rise above sectional and parochial interests and to take an objective approach to issues relating to contracts and other transactions involving government in order to avoid the rising issues of judgment debts.