A Communicator of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ametor Kwame, has revealed that international IT firm, Bankswitch is planning to go back to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to seek for an order to seize and garnishee some properties of Ghana to defray the cost of judgment awarded them for the wrongful abrogation of their contract with the West African country.
According to him, it was based on such plan that the Government of Ghana is still engaging Bankswitch to see how best it could resolve the matter amicably.
One of such moves, he noted, is the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s engagement with the Destination Inspection Companies (DICs) to mobilize some resources to pay the judgment debt.
He said ever since Bankswitch got the ruling in their favour, it has presented two proposals before the Government of Ghana to pay them.
Those proposals, Mr. Ametor Kwame said, are; an outright payment of the GHc 197.4 million plus charges plus interest; and payment in instalment for five years by awarding them another contract with 0.35% of the country’s import revenue.
These demands, he said, are outrageous, hence, the need for alternative ways to mobilize enough resources to pay the debt.
According to him, it was based on the above mentioned proposals that the Minister for Trade and Industry, Ekow Spio-Garbrah wrote to the DICs to solicit their help in paying the debt in exchange for renewal of their contracts.
“When you calculate the 0.35%, it is getting to about $1bn in today’s figures. But remember that the economy of Ghana will not be static. The economy will expand because of the oil and gas resources at our disposal and there will be more investments.
“That 0.35% at today’s calculation of revenue it will be more than that. So, that is what the government is currently considering to see how best it could meet those demands or find an alternative way of raising money to defray the cost,” he told Kasapa FM.
But in a swift response, the Member of Parliament for Nabdam, Boniface Gambila said the procedure and processes adopted by the Trade and Industry Minister in raising money from the DICs contravenes the laws of the land.
He said per the laws of the land, it is only the Ministry of Finance that has the mandate to award contracts to the DICs.
