JUDGEMENT DEBT COMMISSION RESUMES SITTING

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

In what can be described as a show of patriotism, a witness appearing before the Judgement Debt Commission yesterday appealed to the Sole Commissioner to halt the payment of compensation to claimants in the Jasikan lands acquisition in the Volta Region.

According to Evangelist Nana Sankrankye Attah who presented himself as onetime head of Bentiamina Clan of Jasikan which is the Adonten Division of Buem, the government should not pay GH¢42,000 which has accrued interest up to GH¢760,000 as judgement debt to the claimants until the lands acquired had been revisited.

After three months of no show following a fire outbreak that destroyed the Old Parliament House where the commission operated from, the Commission of Enquiry investigating the payment of Judgement Debts resumed its public sittings yesterday.

The ‘Commission of Enquiry into the payment of Judgement Debt and Akin’ under C.I. 79 to investigate the frivolous and dubious payments of huge monies to undeserving individuals and companies, was appointed by President John Dramani Mahama after public uproar over the payments in what has now come to be termed as Judgement Debts (JD).

Notable among them were payments made to CP (€94 million) and the never-ending case of GH¢51.2million parted to the self-styled National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, both of which many believed were dubious and frivolous.

Power of Attorney

Appearing before Sole Commissioner Justice Yaw Apau of the Court of Appeal, Nana Sankrankye said he gave a power of attorney to one Emmanuel Ofori of Vakpo in the Volta Region to pursue compensation claims for the family but said Mr. Ofori was never instructed to go to court.

He claimed that after receiving the power of attorney to pursue the matter from the Volta Regional Lands Commission in Ho, Mr. Ofori ‘vanished’ and he never heard from him until recently when the commission invited him (the witness) to testify.

He said at a point, the family was given approval for some payment of the 32.68 acre land taken by the colonial government in 1943 per the records but then Local Government Minister, late Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu told him the government had suspended payment of compensations and therefore the family could not claim the GH¢42,170 awarded them.

Legal Battle

Nana Sankrankye said he later read in the newspapers that he had won a court case concerning the land adding, “I don’t admit that I have ever sent somebody including Emmanuel Ofori to pursue this case in court.”

The witness said the Buem lands are controlled by families instead of chiefs and it was in 2010 that Executive Instrument (EI) was done on the land in dispute.

Justice Apau then enquired why a land acquired in 1943 was recently covered under the EI but Nana Sankrankye said since that time there had not been any compensation.

He said the EI was prepared purposely in respect of their family land and added that Mr. Ofori led by a lawyer called Seth Mensah Dumoga should not be given any money.

Interestingly, it was a Ho High Court that had ordered the government to pay a judgement debt of GH¢760,000 after an initial claim of GH¢42,000 and when the Attorney General which was not involved in the calculation of the interest tried to set aside the judgement, it was refused by the court.

Unlawful Detention

Dorothy Afriyie Ansah, a Chief Sate Attorney also appeared to present the case docket in which one Michael Tei Boateng sued the AG for unlawful detention by the police.

Apart from being detained and later released without any charge, his car which the police impounded got lost in the custody of the police and was subsequently awarded a judgement sum of GH¢28,116.70 after putting in a claim of GH¢6,500.

Irrigation Authority

The Chief State Attorney also presented a case docket between some former employees and the Ghana Irrigation Authority in which the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) ruled in favour of the workers but because the authority failed to comply with the order, the CHRAJ had to enforce their ruling in court.

After asking for GH¢28,000 and the Irrigation Authority failing to contest the issue, the judgement debt rose to GH¢153,000.

Although the Chief State Attorney said she was yet to know about any payments to the claimants, the commission’s counsel, Dometi Kofi Sorkpor, confirmed that when the ex-workers counsel appeared before the commission he had said payments had been made.

Mr. Sorkpor also said the judgement was delivered in 2007 and payments made in 2008 but the interests accrued from 1989.

No Serious Harm

Earlier, Justice Apau had said that the fire outbreak that rocked the Old Parliament House where they originally operated from affected the sittings but did not destroy all documents.

“We backed up our proceedings thanks to the vigilance of our ICT people. We have lost a lot but nothing substantial.”

He said the commission is currently in a race against the June 2014 deadline and would not hesitate to ask for extension from the President if the need arose.