Such A Wanton Judgment Debt

Judgment debts against states constitute grave financial losses which should not be swept under the carpet.

Unfortunately, a number of such financial infractions occasioned by bad decisions have occurred in this country; grave situations as they were, they did not attract enough deterrent to obviate future recurrence.

Until the trend became common under the past National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, many had hardly heard about the reference.

What is it about the NDC that the financial anomalies are common with their administrations? While it comes at a cost to the state, it appears to serve the interest of others, which is why greed constitutes a factor in this silly enterprise.

The desalination project at Teshie, the first of its kind in the country, was not a proposal from government but from the company which sold the concept to the past NDC government.

It of course sounded appealing and convincing in as much as it was going to serve the interest of the thirsty residents of Teshie/Nungua.

The terms of the contract was the problem, which prompts the question as to what went into the final decision to go ahead with it, the hand tying clauses notwithstanding.

We cannot be convinced that there was a heightened sense of excitement and hurry to pass the deal at the legislature. Couldn’t the legislature as it were have done a better scrutiny of the terms of the contract, especially the guiding clauses? Maybe the Honourable Members were being pushed to hurry up with the needed nod.

It can be imagined if at the time of the pre-signing moments there was an opposition to the whole project or portions of the clauses.

Those in opposition, had they posed many yet critical questions or queries so value for money terms were reached, would have been pushed under the bus of politics. The tag of haters of development would have been festooned around their necks.

Here we are today faced with a judgment debt of $235 million in favour of a desalination company which only fleeced us, the value for money in the deal being zero.

It is mindboggling that we were paying as a country GH¢6.20 for a gallon of desalinated water and selling same for GH¢1.40 to consumers. To think that the quality of the water so produced was questioned by consumers adds another layer to our national headache.

Besides the judgment debt lurks a World Bank financial component debit to our national ledger.

President Mahama cancelled the contract because of its unsustainability and fiscal silliness, hence the judgment of the arbitration court.

While we do not expect anybody to be questioned in this administration who had something to do with the deal, we nonetheless demand of the government to convince us that there was not an element of recklessness in the agreement.

Who was the Minister of Works and Housing at the time? And who was advisor to the company?

Answers to the above would prime us and, indeed, the people of Ghana on the way forward, because those who jointly took that wasteful step are still in government today. Who are they?

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