Over GH¢1.8bn judgement debt paid by both NDC, NPP govts since 2000 – Report

A study by the Policy Action Platform (PAP) of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a think tank, has revealed that the state has paid a total of GH¢1,893.7 million as judgement debt between 2000 and 2019.

According to the CSJ report, which was launched on Thursday, June 1, 2021, Ghana’s scarce public resources within this period have been wasted due to observed inefficiencies exhibited by some public officials in their line of duty.

“Specifically, in relative terms, in relation to the size of the economy, the total judgment debt payments over the past two decades ranged between 0.4 per cent (excluding land acquisition) and 0.6 per cent (including land acquisition) of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” a report accompanying study stated.

Also, the report revealed that contractual breaches – which tends to follow political transitions – contributed the highest to the total amount of judgement debts and stood at GH¢1,384.7 million within the period under review.

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

This was followed by the failure of the government to promptly pay compensation for land acquisition which stood at GH¢ 479.2 million.

The third significant contributor to Ghana’s perennial judgement debt payments since between 2002 and 2019 was statutory breaches by public officials, which stood at GH¢29.9 million.

According to study, the figures are based on 2015 Sole Commissioner's and Auditor-General's Reports

Compilers of the study, Prof Theresa Mannah-Blankson, a CSJ Fellow with expertise in Finance and Economy; and Theodore Albright, also a CSJ Fellow with expertise in Legal and Constitutional Affairs, note that while these findings are based on actual payments made by the states between 2000 and 2019, their review showed staggering amounts of outstanding judgment debts.

For example, the Auditor-General’s report showed that for 2017, GH¢411.6 million was outstanding.

Recommendations proffered by the study include

1. Reforms of key institutional arrangements in the execution of govt business;
2. Formulation of a judgment debt management policy;
3. Introduction of results-oriented approaches to budgeting and management in the execution of government business;
4. Reforming/strengthening governance with an emphasis on increasing transparency & accountability of the govt & its agencies to the State around spending.

READ THE FULL REPORT BELOW

 

Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, gave the keynote address.

The report was launched during an online seminar dubbed “A 20 Year review of Judgement Debt Payments in Ghana: Impact, Causes & Remedies.”