SONA 2024: President Akufo-Addo says Attorney-General has saved Ghana GHS 10 trillion in judgement debts

Some GHS 10 trillion in judgment debts against the State have been prevented by the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, says President Nana Akufo-Addo.

The President made the assertion delivering his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Tuesday, February 27, 2024.

“The Attorney-General has continued, in a very effective manner, the tradition under this administration of contesting every civil litigation against the state, and has avoided the numerous judgement debts that used to be given against the state.

“The Office, as a result, has saved the country over ten trillion Ghana cedis (GH¢10 trillion),” the president quipped.

In 2023, the government was under intense pressure to cough up a $140 million arbitral award as Ghana’s assets in the UK were targeted to defray a judgment debt.

The Ministry of Finance was reported to have reneged on its role to pay the award, a development that culminated in the judgment creditor attaching the government’s assets in the UK.

In Cedi terms, the total judgment debts paid from 2000 – 2019 amounted to GH¢1.8 billion million, equivalent to about 135% of new multilateral loans contracted by the government in 2019, 112% of total central government grants received in 2019, and about 30% of total health expenditures in 2019.

Of the total, judgment debt payments arising from contractual breaches was GH¢1.38 billion (73%), GH¢479.2 million from failure to promptly pay compensation for compulsory land acquisition by the State/Government million (25%), and GH¢29.9 million (about 1.5%) from tortuous/statutory breaches by public officials.

Source:norvanreports