A Senior Research Associate at IMANI Africa, Dennis Asare, believes that the $140 million Trafigura judgment debt could have been avoided.

He also placed blame on the Attorney General's office for advising the government to terminate the power purchase agreement with the Ghana Power Generating Company (GPGC), a subsidiary of Trafigura.

In 2017, the government acted on the advice of the Attorney General and terminated the agreement due to high tariffs, which they claimed would have cost the state $115,480,000.

Other reasons cited included alleged illegality, lack of capacity for GPGC to enter into a Power Purchase Agreement, failure to obtain necessary permits, and the installation of used plant contrary to policy.

However, according to the IMANI Research Associate, with proper due diligence, the government could have avoided this debt, which now threatens to cost the country some of its assets in the UK.

“You could see that at every point in time, the IPP was trying to find a way to ensure that this agreement went through but the government had already decided from the Power Purchase Agreement Committee’s report that this one must be terminated.

“And so they were looking for opportunities right within the agreement to get off this deal. And you can say it is part of our poor planning as well as the ill advice from the Attorney-General’s office. I see that this is a cost that could have been avoided,” he told JoyNews in an interview.

The Ghana High Commission building in the UK, which houses visa and other services, the commissioner's residence, the Ghana International Bank building, and other properties are in jeopardy of being auctioned to settle a $140 million judgment debt awarded to Singaporean firm, Trafigura.

Trafigura, the majority owner of the power company GPGC, obtained the award in January 2021 following a London arbitral tribunal's finding that Ghana had unlawfully terminated a contract for the installation and operation of two power plants.

While the government asserts that the Finance Ministry is taking steps to settle the debt, Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Papa Owusu Ankomah, attributes the default to the government's financial constraints.

Dennis Asare points out that since the ruling was made in 2021, the government had ample time to negotiate a payment plan with Trafigura. The government's current denial puts several crucial assets of Ghana, including Regina House, which houses the International Bank of Ghana, at risk.

“We had the opportunity to negotiate and plan how to pay out the debt and we’ve not been able to do that and currently there is no fund available in terms of mitigating some of the judgement debts that may arise out of the termination of contracts,” he stated.