Government is blaming the previous Kufour administration for endorsing the sale of a drill ship (Discoverer 511) to pay judgment debt.
This came up at Wednesday?s sitting of the Judgment Debt Commission.
It emerged that the said ship, which belonged to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), was sold without the knowledge of the corporation.
The drill ship was said to have been sold at $24 million by the Ministry of Energy to defray a judgment debt of $19.5 million to Societe Generale, as ordered by a high court in London.
But mid yesterday, the Ministry of Energy, which has oversight responsibility over GNPC, issued a statement saying ?this deal took place on the 17th July, 2001 during the administration of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).?
The statement, which was signed by Head of Communications of the Ministry, Edward Bawa therefore sought to absorb the current government from any blame whatsoever.
It noted that ?as to questions like: what precipitated the case in the UK court; how much money was realized from the sale of the drill ship, Discoverer 511 and when was it sold are subject of investigation by the Commission of Inquiry into payment from public funds arising from judgment debts.?
It however indicated that ?the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum is currently cooperating with the Commission to unravel the mystery surrounding this transaction.?
It has since assured the public that it would at all times endeavor to be transparent and accountable to Ghanaians.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
