FULL TEXT: Ghana hit with another judgement debt, ordered to pay $70m to WAGL

Before the dust settles on the whopping $170 million judgement debt awarded against the state, the country has again been ordered to pay over $70 million to West Africa Gas Limited (WAGL).

In the latest judgement debt, the London Court of International Arbitration says Ghana must pay WAGL the amount following a claim by WAGL that it was compelled to terminate a Gas Sales Agreement (GSA) over deliberate impediments from the Government. of Ghana.

According to the details of the January 2021 judgement, which has been published below, WAGL agreed to a consultancy service agreement with Siport XXI in the construction of an FRSU Terminal at the port of Tema.

But the project was terminated by the company because of the said impediments.

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The London Court of Arbitration has declared as follows:

1. The Respondent do pay to the Claimant the sum of US$ 68,584,623.37 as the Recovery Fee under the GSA.
2. The Respondent do pay the Claimant simple interest on the sum awarded in (i) above from 22 April 2019 at the annual rate of 6.5% until payment.
3. The Respondent do pay the Claimant’s Legal and Other Costs in the sum of £200,000.
4. The Respondent do pay the Claimant the Arbitration Costs in the sum of £153,108.88.
5. The Counterclaim is dismissed.
6. All other claims, including the claim for a declaration and counterclaims, are rejected.

The Government of Ghana was recently punished for terminating a power agreement with an independent contractor, Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC). 

The GPCC dragged the government of Ghana to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) after an official termination in 2018, demanding compensation from the government for a breach of the contract.

A Commercial Court in London inn June rejected an appeal from Ghana against the $170 million judgment debt awarded to GPGC.

The International Court of Arbitration ordered the government of Ghana to pay to “GCGP the full value of the Early Termination Payment, together with Mobilisation, Demobilisation and preservation and maintenance costs in the amount of US$ 134,348,661, together also with interest thereon from 12 November 2018 until the date of payment, accruing daily and compounded monthly, at the rate of LIBOR for six-month US dollar deposits plus six per cent(6%).”

That judgement debt sparked serious conversations, especially as it comes barely a month after Ghana secured a €170m loan facility for the establishment of a development bank.