The Government has refused a recommendation by the judgment debt commission to investigate officials including NPP flagbearer Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo over the payment of a 4.9 million dollar judgment debt.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo authorized the payment to Delta Foods in 2002 when he was Attorney General, over delays in paying for maize bought by the Agric Ministry.

But the Judgment debt commission said Nana Addo burdened government with the huge a debt due to an unnecessary application he filed at the Supreme Court.

Excerpts of the government white paper on the commission’s report stated that the Agric Ministry contracted Delta Foods Ltd. for the supply of 21,000 tons of American white maize in 1997.

The company sued the Government for failing to pay for the sullies and in a consent judgment, Government accepted liability for the payment.

The Solicitor-General then strangely went to the Supreme Court to quash the consent judgment on the grounds that the company should have sued the Attorney-General and not the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

The Supreme Court rightly dismissed the application and government was ordered to pay off the judgment debt exceeding 8 Million Dollars.

Following the change of government in Ghana in 2001, Delta Foods Ltd. demanded interest payment on the amount already paid on grounds of delayed payment.

The then Attorney-General, Nana Akufo-Addo, advised payment of the additional amount of 4.9 Million Dollars paid to Delta Foods Ltd. The Commission made the following findings and observations:

i. It was improper for the Office of the Attorney-General to go to the Supreme Court on a mere technicality in proceedings.

ii. The 4.9 million Dollar payment authorized by Nana Akuffo Addo and paid to the solicitor for Delta Foods Ltd. constituted a huge financial loss to the State.

The Commission recommended that any public officer found to have contributed in the mess leading to the payment of the judgment debt must be sanctioned.

But in government’s white paper, it's said it does not accept this recommendation of the Commission.

Government in its white paper holds that if the Attorney-General’s Department is not to be sanctioned, going back 16 years to conduct an investigation to identify public officers to be sanctioned was needless.