Two former Attorney Generals appear before Public Accounts Committee

Accra, Feb. 10, GNA - Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, Former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, on Friday told the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament that she needed copies of documents on the payment of 94 million Euro judgement debts to Construction Pioneers (CP) before she could make comments or answer questions before the Committee.

“Respectfully, I am not in a position to talk generally about the transaction. I need to have access to the documents. I need to have the mandate of the Attorney General to speak to this matter,” she said.

Mrs Mould-Iddrisu appeared before the Committee to assist in the determination of the validity of the 94 million Euro judgement debt, which was paid to CP by the Government.

The payment was contained in the Auditor General's report on Public Accounts of Ghana for 2009.

Mrs Mould-Iddrisu said she was given notice of her appearance before the Committee on the morning of Thursday, February 9.

“I am no longer a public office holder. We (she and her counsel) asked in an earlier letter that since this happened when I was Attorney General, I should be given records concerning the case, and I will give you detailed records,” she said.

Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Chairman of the Committee said, he wished that the former Attorney General would give some general information to the public, noting that the document covering the agreement had Mrs Mould-Iddrisu’s signature appended to it. “We are asking if that agreement is a document that you signed,” he said.

In response, Mrs Mould-Iddrisu said: “I would crave your indulgence that I can only speak when I have access to the documents”.

Mr Kan-Dapaah then directed Mrs Mould-Iddrisu and her counsel, Nana Ato Dadzie to make known to the Committee's clerk, “Exactly what documents you need and we will make it available to you”.

Earlier, Mr Joe Ghartey, also a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, appeared before the Committee and told them that he also needed copies of the documents before he could answer questions on the matter.

“Once I see the documents, I will be in a better position to answer your questions. I will be of better use to the Committee if I have these documents,” he said.

Mr Kan-Dapaah, said the impression should not be given that “We are doing anything more than the Auditor General asked for”.

He said all the Committee was doing was to establish the validity of the 94 million Euro judgement debt payment.

“Don’t let us even assume that there is anything wrong with these figures. We are only establishing validity. We are not passing any judgement at this stage,” he added.

The Committee would continue sitting on the matter on Wednesday, February 15.