A Former Attorney-General
and Minister of Justice, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu will be appearing before the
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament this Thursday in the matter of
the €94 million paid to Construction Pioneers (CP) as judgement debt by the
state.
Many are wondering
whether on display once again, and on GTV, will be the bias and insolence of
some of the members of the PAC, especially the Chairman, Kan-Dapaah as well as
Hon. Agyeman Manu and Hon Isaac Asiama, all NPP MPs.
The appearance of
current Attorney-General, Dr. Ben Kumbuor, a few weeks ago saw on full display
insolence and bias from these three MPs as they sought to embarrass the
Attorney-General. But Kumbuor will not kowtow to their insolence, whims and
caprices, standing his grounds and virtually turning the whole session into a
teacher and a pupil teaching session as he lectured them on judgement debt.
Invariably, the Attorney-General
ended up exposing the ignorance of the “
three musketeers” who simply refused to swallow their pride and learn from the
Attorney- General.
When Mr Philip Addison
appeared before the same PAC a few days ago, they did not show even a quarter
of their insolence; they sat still as he tore through their questions, refusing
to answer some questions.
The bias of Kan Dapaah
was on full glow and this is understandable because Mr. Addison was the lawyer
who defended those accused of murdering Ya Na Andani Yakubu II.
The Chairman of the PAC
looked on sheepishly as Mr. Addison bluntly refused to answer some questions.
At one stage, he even seemed to be literally going down on his knees to plead
with him to answer the questions. At another stage, it was as if he was the solicitor
for Mr. Addison.
Not many Ghanaians have
been surprised by the bias of some members of the PAC. It has become obvious to
many that the Chairman, Kan- Dapaah and some NPP members of the Committee have
been using the PAC’s sittings to score cheap political points.
Hon. Isaac Asiama in
particular prides himself as being one of the most insolent MPs Ghana has ever
seen though he always ultimately only ends up exposing his ignorance on matters.
His English often leaves many laughing until their sides hurt but he seems not
to notice this.
The CP judgement debt
saga has come about as a result of the refusal of the NPP, after coming to
power in 2001, to pay CP for roads it has constructed. Not even the advice of
one of the Attorney-Generals under that regime, Joe Ghartey, that CP be paid
was adhered to.
In arbitration before
the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Ghana lost and was ordered to pay €153
million to CP. However, the NPP government stubbornly refused to pay, creating
a situation where interest of €8,000 a day accumulated on the principal.
By the time the NDC came
to office in 2009, the debt had reached €653 million. CP secured another order
from the ICC to attach the properties of the Government of Ghana, (GOG), which meant
CP could sell Ghana’s properties anywhere in the world to defray the debt.
The construction comapny
immediately moved to attach Ghana’s UN Accounts and properties belonging to the
Ghana Cocoa Processing in London but Attorney Genera;, Betty Mould Iddrisu
moved in to prevent Ghana’s properties
from being sold.
In a settlement with CP,
she managed to reduce Ghana’s debt to €94
million which the state immediately began to defray. But in a funny twist, the
NPP, which caused the debt and caused it to sky-rocket to €653 million has been
questioning why the government is paying off the debt.
As usual, the NPP
managed to hoodwink Ghanaians to start attacking Betty instead of
congratulating her for being able to negotiated Ghana’s indebtedness to CP
downwards. The NDC, as docile as ever, rather than rallying around Betty to
expose the NPP instead decided to leave her in the lurch to battle it all
alone. By this singular act of betrayal, the NDC surrendered the moral high ground
to the NPP who, desperate for political points, have managed to convince the
undiscerning that it is the NDC that is guilty in this matter.
Betty and his lawyer,
Nana Ato Dazdie, have so far managed to go it all alone, battling the NPP, and
proving that if somebody needs to be charged for causing financial loss in this
matter, it is elements in the NPP.
