The National Communications Officer of the opposition Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has taken on the government over its decision to terminate a power purchase agreement with Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC) which has led to Ghana being slapped with a $170 million judgement debt.
Mr. Gyamfi on Monday’s edition of the Point of View on Citi TV said the Akufo-Addo government had shown bad faith by terminating the agreement it had expressed confidence in.
“It is hypocritical and preposterous for anybody to challenge the propriety of this agreement because apart from the fact that the agreement was approved by cabinet and Parliament which made it effective, the government itself by its conduct expressed faith and confidence in the terms of the agreement because not only did we terminate the agreement, we also filed a counterclaim.”
The GPGC agreement was cancelled by the Akufo-Addo government following recommendations by a committee set up to review all the power agreements at the peak of a severe power crisis during the NDC era.
The termination, which has resulted in a $170 million judgement debt awarded against Ghana, has triggered criticism against the government, especially as it comes barely a month after Ghana secured a €170 million loan facility for the establishment of a development bank.
‘Reckless termination’
Sammy Gyamfi insisted that the government had no legal justification for abrogating the contract.
“The termination was wilfully reckless and totally unacceptable. The Akufo Addo-Bawumia government knew that they had no lawful justification to terminate the agreement. They knew that the termination was wrong. They knew that terminating the agreement would result in a judgement debt, yet they went ahead to terminate the agreement,” he said.
The NDC communicator thus called for sanctions against persons responsible for the abrogation.
“We need to pursue this matter and hold those who are responsible for this financial loss to the state responsible.”
About the arbitration
The Ghana Power Generation Company dragged the Government of Ghana to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) after an official termination in 2018, demanding compensation from the government for a breach of the contract.
The court subsequently awarded the company an amount of $170 million to be paid by Ghana.
Ghana challenged the arbitration award in a UK court, but could not meet the deadlines to file its case, citing the COVID-19 pandemic among others as reasons for the delay.
The Attorney General, Godfred Dame, has stated that processes are underway to thoroughly probe circumstances that led to Ghana being slapped with the $170 million judgement debt.
