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Four governance think-tank institutions have called for a non-partisan national commission of inquiry to delve into the circumstances under which numerous judgements debts came about and how the settlements were arrived at. It is the view of the institutions that apart from unravelling the problem, the commission of inquiry will also identify the systemic political governance failures that made the judgement debts possible and thereby make appropriate legal and policy recommendations to remedy the situation. The findings and recommendations of the commission, they believed, would serve notice to public and government officials that they would be held accountable, even personally liable, should their actions or inaction lead to needless and preventable judgement debts. The institutions are the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA), the Forum for Governance and Justice (FGJ) and the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). Their comments on the issue came in the wake of mounting public outcry over the payment of huge sums of money to private individuals and corporate institutions by the government, most of which have been occasioned by court rulings or out-of-court settlements between the state and the aggrieved parties. Some of these judgement debts arise from the alleged illegal termination of various contracts initially entered into between the Government of Ghana and some individuals and institutions. Speaking to the issue, the Deputy Director of CDD-Ghana, Dr Franklin Oduro, told the Daily Graphic: �Certainly, such a commission of inquiry must be composed and made to function differently from some of the recent past commissions of inquiry which have had �partisan� membership.� He said although the President might have the constitutional mandate to set up such a commission and appoint its members, �it is essential, in this particular case, that the membership is drawn exclusively or substantially from the ranks of professional bodies of accountants, auditors, retired magistrates and civic non-state anti-corruption bodies that have the requisite expertise in these matters�. According to him, Parliament could also institute its own public enquiry, since, as representatives of the people, Parliament�s enquiry would generate a more nationalistic interest and also come up with appropriate solutions to close the loopholes in the financial management systems and also enact legislation that could be enforced. �These unfolding revelations about judgement debts and their implications thereof are tragic developments in governance in Ghana,� Dr Oduro said. According to him, the revelations represented and reminded us of the systemic deficiencies in Ghana�s public financial management systems, noting that they brought to the fore the lapses at the Attorney-General�s office with respect to defending the interest of the state and, for that matter, taxpayers. �These episodes also confirm the consequence of the continuing failure to take bold measures to reform and strengthen key governance institutions, particularly those protecting the national purse,� he said. Dr Oduro, who is also the Head of Research and Programmes at CDD-Ghana, described the unfolding judgement debt saga as bad for Ghana�s politics. He suggested the need to professionalise the Attorney-General�s office and possibly decouple it from the Ministry of Justice and properly delineate the boundaries between the ruling party and the government/state. For his part, the Executive Director of CEPA, Dr Joe Abbey, said the country�s current developmental gaps made it insensitive on the part of the state to pay huge sums of money to corporate institutions and private individuals in the name of judgement debts. �There is too much poverty in this country for money to be wasted in the name of judgment debts. What we need is a truly independent commission of inquiry to look at who is or was involved in the payment of judgement debts, who caused them and how we can prevent their recurrence in the future,� he said. However genuine some of those forms of compensation for termination of contracts might be, Dr Abbey said, the burden on the national kitty was just unbearable. While admitting that the country�s fledgling democracy had caused more people and institutions to increasingly drag the state to court for financial redresses, he said the inability of state officials to objectively follow the nation�s procurement laws in the award and abrogation of contracts could be blamed for the current development. According to him, most of the judgement debts that had been paid or were currently being paid were as a result of state officials� disregard for the procurement law during the signing and/or abrogation of the contracts in question. The Convener of the FGJ, Dr Clement Apaak, explained in a statement that the issue of judgement debts was of great public interest, hence the need for the commission of inquiry. It said the current blame game involving officials of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the only two political parties which have ruled Ghana since the inception of the Fourth Republic, could be resolved through the work of the commission to help get �to the bottom of why and how we paid GH�642 million in debt and may pay more�. It noted that 86 institutions and individuals benefited from such payments in 2010 alone. Among them were Balkan Energy Limited (GH�170,726), CP Construction (GH�180,012,982), African Automobile Limited (GH�2,500,000), MS Rockshell International (GH�7,140,500), Latex Foam Limited (GH�133,165), Novotee Limited (GH�573,058) and Nene Yobo Asutsuare Sugar Factory (GH�2,525,600). It said while the payment of judgement debts was not synonymous with corruption, it was believed that a judge-led commission could expose any associated acts of corruption. A fellow at the IEA, Mr Ransford Gyampoh, said the investigations should focus on the payment of judgement debts since the inception of the Fourth Republic. He said it was also important to ascertain why, when contracts were abrogated by a particular government, people who felt aggrieved did not go to court during the tenure of that government but did so after a new party had assumed power. �We should not leave the matter in the hands of political parties because the parties accusing each other have their hands soiled,� he said. He said it was also important to know how the state had defended its interests with regard to the issue of judgement debts. �If we are serious about fighting corruption, we should establish this probe now,� Mr Gyampoh said.