Pay off support grants from gov’t – Justice Appau tells companies
Justice Yaw Appau, Commissioner of the Judgement Debt Commission, says companies need to pay off support grants they receive from government for their contracts, after completing those contracts.
“Some companies are granted support by government to carry out their contracts. When they have completed their contracts and it is time for them to be paid, they should also pay back the grants that they were supported by.”
Justice Appau said this in Accra on Tuesday, at the sitting of the Judgement Debt Commission.
Kwadwo Awua-Peasah, Chief Economics Officer of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, appeared before the Commission and said he had available, documents covering judgement debts paid from the consolidated fund for the years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
The Chief Economics Officer said he could not produce documents on payments from 1993 to 2007.
“My Chief Director said we do not have them because they have been taken over by Public Record and Archives and Administrative Department(PRAAD), who have written to us and said our request for those documents was too general. They have written to us to retrieve them by batch numbers.”
When asked by the Commissioner when the documents would be made available, Mr. Awua-Peasah said “we are sure by mid-January.”
Justice Yaw Appau said, “we asked your Chief Director weather some companies were owed judgement debts and he said he would find out from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies. We would resume sitting after the Christmas break on January 7, 2013. We would inform you of the next sitting date and we would be specific on what we expect from you.”
Mr. Mark William Attipoe, Chief Cashier Responsible for all payments on behalf of governemnt at the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, presented documents covering payments on behalf of the Government from the consolidated fund, from 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 to the Commission.
When asked by the Commission to produce documents covering payments from 1992 to date, as was requested during his last appearance before the sitting, Mr. Attipoe said the time given his outfit was “too short.”
He said, “We had challenges so we have appealed to the PRAAD to help us out.”
When asked by Justice Appau how long records were kept by the Department before being sent to the archives, Mr. Attipoe said they were kept for three years.
He pleaded with the Commission to give them “up to mid-January to retrieve those documents”.
Justice Appau said he would be invited back in mid-January.
The Commission continues to sit tomorrow, Wednesday, January 19, 2012.
Source: GNA