The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, dubious Godfred Yeboah Dame has stated that the era where unwarranted, dubious and scandalous judgment debts were secured against the state is over following measures his office has put in place to defend the state against those claims.
Addressing members the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) at their annual general conference held at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Monday, 9 September 2024, Godfred Dame said his office from 2021 to date has saved the state about 15 trillion cedis in judgment debts.
“Three years ago, when I stood before you at Bolgatanga, I undertook to build a formidable civil litigation team capable of zealously protecting the interests of the State in litigation, just as private legal practitioners do for their clients. The Civil Division, with the leadership of my humble self and my able deputies, has lived up to this challenge and done so much to protect our taxpayers’ pocket in litigation in a way that staggers the imagination.
“Through an unwavering commitment to justice and the protection of the interests of the State, the Office of the Attorney General has succeeded in saving the State many billions of United States dollars, being the equivalent of over Fifteen Trillion Ghana Cedis in numerous civil litigations in Ghana and in various international fora since I assumed office. The era of unwarranted, dubious and scandalous judgment debts against the State, I can say, are clearly a thing of the past,” the Attorney General remarked.
“There has not been a time that the Office has been more exposed to international litigation than the era in which we live. Industrialisation, the expansion of the economy and increase in investments have enhanced the risk of the nation in dealing with challenges filed on the international stage in respect of disputes arising from the State’s relations with corporations and multi-nationals.
“The State has had to litigate in the domestic courts of Norway (from the Oslo District Court all the way to that country’s Supreme Court), it has had to defend numerous arbitration claims in the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the London Court of International Arbitration, ad hoc arbitration tribunals with seats of arbitration being Paris, Stockholm, New York, etc.,” the AG added
It is gratifying to note that in each of these international arbitration claims filed since 2021, the State has achieved favourable outcomes with little or no cost to the nation. We have protected state properties, preserved the nation’s rights and fought off claims for billions of United States Dollars against the State even in a situation where a particular decision of a Minister is impugned by an international tribunal,” Godfred Dame further remarked.
