S.C Freezes Payment Of Judgment Debt To Isofoton...Orders Case In Lower Courts To Be Halted

The Supreme Court presided over by Justice Date- Bah has, by an interim order, granted the application filed by Martin Amidu praying for an order for all proceedings in other lower courts in respect of judgment debt payment to Spanish firm, Isofoton, to be put on hold. The Court again granted the state a request for a stay of execution in respect of judgment debt payment to Isofoton SA. The case which was filed by former Attorney General, Martin Amidu, is challenging a claim of $1.3 million by Spanish company Isofoton SA as judgment debt from the Ghana government. The company has so far received part payment of the money from the Ghana government. On Tuesday March 5th, the Supreme Court allowed for the amendment of the statement of claim jointly on behalf of the Isofoton SA and Anane Agyei Forson. This was after the former Attorney-General filed a suit challenging a claim of 1.3 million dollars by Spanish company Isofoton SA as judgment debt. Mr. Amidu believes Isofoton SA has no legitimate contract with government and has no business making such claims from the Government of Ghana and thus sued the Attorney-General, Isofoton SA and Anane-Agyei Forson, a Ghanaian citizen and agent of Isofoton SA. He is seeking nine declarations including, what he says, are the illegal payments made to Isofoton by the government. ISOFOTON is seeking over $1.3 million judgment debt against government for what it claimed was a breach of contract. The judgment debt is the result of the abrogation of a contract with the company by the then Kufuor administration, for the supply and installation of solar powered irrigation systems in the rural areas. Isofoton sued the government in 2008 over the abrogation of the contract and secured a default judgment with no specific amount. The State went to court in 2009 and filed processes in an attempt to set aside that default judgment. The state however did not continue with that process, but instead reached an out-of-court settlement with the company to pay an amount of $1.3 million. On the 28 September 2010, the settlement agreement was filed and adopted by the court on September 29, 2010. The state paid $400,000 and indicated the mode of payment of the remainder. It however defaulted in making the full payment, forcing Isofoton to go back to the courts to obtain an order to garnishee (freeze) the accounts of the Engineering Department of the Ministry of Agric on 21 November 2011. This ostensibly means that government must pay the outstanding amount in order to defreeze the accounts of the department. On April 20, 2012, the AG tried to set aside the garnishee process but failed. The Mills-Mahama administration has since paid part of the money. Mr. Amidu�s case is that it was wrong for the High Court to have entertained Isofoton S. A.�s suit against the Republic of Ghana on grounds that Isofoton lacked the locus standi and a cause of action to commence the action in the first place because of the absence of any operative contract with the Government of Ghana. His writ seeks nine declarations, including an interpretation of Article 181 of the Constitution, as regards Isofoton S. A. and Mr. Anane-Agyei Forson in making claims against the Government of Ghana when they knew that there was no operative contract with the Government of Ghana. The Supreme Court also granted the Attorney General their application seeking for leave to withdraw their motion to stay execution which was similar to that of Martin Amidu. However, Mr. Amidu described the AG�s application as �incompetent� and would have been thrown out of court. The hearing of the substantive case has been adjourned to April 11.