Blame Kufuor's gov't for drill ship mess - Alfred Ogbamey

“You (Kufuor-led NPP government) had an opportunity to save the nation 5.5 million dollars. And yet, our lack of representation in court led to a situation where a default judgment (against Ghana) was pronounced by the court...Nobody can pretend that the Kufuor administration’s failure to go and defend (GNPC), and by allowing Societe Generale to secure a default judgment is not an error. It is…,” asserts Alfred Ogbamey.

Managing Editor of the Gye Nyame Concord, Alfred Ogbamey, has blamed the erstwhile Kufuor administration for the brouhaha over the sale of Drill ship Discoverer 511 that has since become the focal point of the Sole Commission set up by President John Dramani Mahama and discussions on the media landscape.

Contributing on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" programme, Alfred Ogbamey averred that though Lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC) faulted in the sale of the drill ship; the Kufuor government however failed to do due diligence in the deal which could have spared the nation this needless hullabaloo.

He explained that the nation would have benefited from the monies paid to Societe Generale as judgment debt if the former Attorney General under the NPP regime, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and other officials had proceeded to defend the State in court.

He bemoaned the events that led to the payment of 47 million dollars to the French Bank, Societe Generale, in a London court as default judgment.

The sale of the GNPC's drill ship has since sparked controversy and become a subject of enquiry by the Sole Commissioner appointed by President John Dramani Mahama to investigate all judgment debt cases in the country.

The Kufuor administration has been accused of breaching some legal and procedural matters by the Commission for failing to consult the Board of GNPC, which had the legitimate right to sell the ship.

Other officials of the Kufuor government such as K.T Hammond, a former Deputy Minister of Energy and his boss, Dr. Albert Kan Dapaah, have been accused of misappropriating an amount of $3.5 million, which was left after the sale of the drill ship for 24 million dollars.

Nonetheless, K.T Hammond who handled the drill ship transaction has denied any wrongdoing in the deal.

Though the Kufuor administration, through negotiations, managed to beat down the money to $19.5 million, Alfred Ogbamey insist the government's mistakes cannot be written off.

“You had an opportunity to save the nation 5.5 million dollars. And yet, our lack of representation in court led to a situation where a default judgment (against Ghana) was pronounced by the court.