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PRESS CONFERENCE ON LIABILITIES AGAINST THE STATE ADDRESSED BY SAMUEL OKUDZETO MONDAY THE 16 of JULY, 2012. Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press and thank you for coming. We have invited you here this afternoon to continue discussions with you and the people of our dear nation on the important national issue of liabilities against the State, be they Settlement Claims, Compensation Claims or Judgement Debts. We observe however that most of us simply refer to them as Judgement Debts. ' When government took the decision to embark on full disclosure in this matter, we were guided by the principles of transparency and accountability. Government's decision was also informed by the many misconceptions and distortions that had characterised the �Judgm�nt Debt� discourse. Ladies and Gentlemen, We are happy to note that since we began the full public disclosures on Judgment Debts and its implications on the Ghanaian economy, very useful contributions have come from Civil Society and sections of the public on what we need to do as a nation to prevent avoidable Judgement Debts and other liabilities against the State. All the suggestions are worth considering in determining the way forward. Ladies and gentlemen, It is the hope of Government that the full disciosures will enable us as a people to trace the genesis of these iiabilities, what has gone wrong and in the process identify public officers whose acts of omission or commission have contributed to the current situation. This clarion call for a nationalistic and patriotic posture was not to be. Unfortunately, opponents of Government, mainly in the New Patriotic Party (NPP), have decided to even step up their attacks on Government whilst poisoning the atmosphere in the process. It is rather unfortunate that the discourse has been so steeped in partisanship that we often ignore the real issues at stake. Often, the NDC government is wrongly accused of only seeking to do the bidding of private companies to the detriment of the interest of the State. Government has also been accused of preparing the grounds for further looting of state resources. The other charges have been that Judgement Debts are avenues for corruption under this government and therefore Government is in an indecent haste to honour such debts. Opponents of Government have even gone to the ridiculous extent of labeling officials who seek to throw light on the issue as debt collectors, debt engineers and what have you. One leading member of the NPP even recently created a new lexicon in the English language, describing the NDC government as�stealers". While raining all these accusations and insults on the NDC Government, the opposition has also sought to position the flagbearer of the NPP, Mr Akufo Addo, as an Attorney General who never engaged in settlements and that he fought all of such claims to their logical conclusion in the courts. Mr AkufoAddo himself has sought to give credence to this positioning by placing on record that instead of paying Judgement Debts, he will use that money to finance his unrealistic and widely discredited free Senior High School promise. Ladies and Gentlemen, In the spirit of transparency and full disclosure, we want to share with you the contents of two letters written by Mr. Akufo Addo, one dated the 18th of April, 2001 written in his capacity as Attorney General and Minister of Justice and the other as recent as the 31 of October, 2011, in his capacity as flagbearer of the NPP. Please pay close attention to the contents as read by my colleague. (Another Deputy Information Minister, James Agyenim Boateng reads) Ladies and Gentlemen, These two letters are revealing as they are interesting. They prove that: 1) Mr Akufo-Addo is no stranger to the payment of Judgement Debts. In other words, he is not exonerated in anyway. 2) It is a fact that after assuming as Attorney General and Minister for Justice in 2001, one of Mr Akufo Addo's first legal actions to the State was to recommend the payment of "settlement" as evidenced by his letter dated 18th April, 2001; he even went beyond settlements by simply agreeing with the petition from the Solicitors of Great Cape without any further negotiations or court processes. Ll 3) Akufo-Addo and his acolytes tell the Ghanaian public that Judgement Debts connote corruption and that, in the most unlikely event as President, he will rather use Judgement Debtsto finance his unrealistic Free Senior High School pledge but unknown to the Ghanaian public as �recent as only nine months ago, he had been busily advocating behind the scenes that the Great Cape Company of Switzerland be paid an additional $1,117,818.45 (one million, one hundred and seventeen thousand eight hundred and eighteen dollars and forty five cents) in what he falls Great Cape's �legitimate claims" 4) Are we to infer from Mr. Akufo-Addo's action that it is possible to agree with a private company's claim and not be acting against the State? Or perhaps there should be different strokes for different folks? 5) Even ten years after Akufo-Addo left office, he believes fervently that the Great Cape Company of Switzerland has a legitimate claim against the State. indeed he has not only been faithful to Great Cape, but also he states in writing, in the 3"1 October, 2011 letter from his office, that it would be "unconscionable on the part of Gevernment" to "defeat legitimate claims of its creditors". Ladies and Gentlemen, Unlike the NPP, we would not rush in passing judgment. Except that we would like to ask, based on the NPP's logic, whether the NPP will call representatives of Great Cape Company fraudulent or label them cronies of the NPP Flagbearer, Akufo Addo? Will the NPP accuse Akufo-Addo of betraying the people of Ghana? Will the NPP accuse Akufo Addo of only being concerned with foreign business interests with the intention of receiving kick-backs? Will the NPP call him a Debt Collector or a Debt Engineer? Will Sheikh l.C Quaye call Akufo-Addo a "stealer"? We have made reference to these two documents to reinforce our conviction on the need for the discourse on Judgment Debts to be done in a dispassionate and non-partisan manner. It is our hope that the NPP will come to the realization that pretence is not in their interest. This Judgment Debt issue presents a challenge to the nation. It stretches from arbitrary exercise of power, illegal abrogation of contractual obligations, vindictive and petty politics, wrongful payments, weak institutional capacity and its attendant dire consequences for the Ghanaian taxpayer. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is important to recall that Cabinet has over the recent past established clear guidelines for the management and handling of these liabilities against the State. These guidelines are expected to ensure that the State places more priority on court challenges of claims, that liabilities are managed in good time in order to cut our losses and avoid spiraling interests. These have also come with threshold categorisations and approval responsibilities. These cabinet guidelines have been as a result of President John Evans Atta Mills� leadership and commitment at ensuring that there is improved transparency and clarity in dealing with such matters whilst ensuring that the public purse is prudently" managed. Indeed, Government is not averse to further reforms in public administration in Ghana once such reforms are geared towards the prevention of all forms of losses of the people's money. Government will continue to pursue all Judgment Debt related cases in the courts and will be guided by} the national interest. Government pledges to remain receptive to meaningful contributions to the debate so that, in the final analysis, we will collectively develop better mechanisms and structures for safe-guarding our nation's resources. God bless Ghana.