The Attorney General (AG) and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has recounted how his office saved the Ghanaian economy through the water-tight defence he put up in arbitrary cases brought against the state.
According to him, the office of the Attorney General had defended over US$9 billion in arbitrary claims against Ghana.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the conference of public sector lawyers on Tuesday, November 5, 2024 Godfred Dame noted that a single arbitration claim, if successful, can bring the economy of a developing country like Ghana to its knees.
“In a point of fact, over the past four years, the value of arbitration claims against the Republic has been over US$9 billion,” he revealed.
BREAKDOWN
The Attorney General, in his address, listed some of the claims his office defended, both international and domestic.
Among the international claims, he cited the financial claim by ENI/Vitol against Ghana, which was initially US$7 billion and subsequently reduced to US$915 million, after a challenge in the course of the proceedings by Ghana.
‘Any of these amounts could have collapsed the Ghanaian economy. By the grace of God, this financial claim was recently dismissed in its entirety by the international arbitration tribunal,’ he added.
AG Dame also mentioned Cassius Mining Ltd. claim against the Government of Ghana, which had a value of about US$300 million.
He also named the GCNet’s arbitral claim, which involves a claim of over GH¢4 billion, the equivalent of about US$250 million, and the recently filed Eland arbitration claim against the government of Ghana, which involves a claim for a minimum of US$320 million.
The AG said that domestically, there have been claims in excess of over GH¢10 trillion successfully defended by the Office of the Attorney-General against the State.
REFORMS
He said that, reflecting on those cases, he saw the need for Ghana to reform the laws governing arbitration and the institution of civil claims against the state.
He stressed on the need for reform because of prejudice in Ghana and the whole of Africa often suffers in international arbitration forums.
“It is quite curious that in some instances, companies which fail to make out any claim in domestic courts of African Countries succeed in extremely huge international arbitration actions, sometimes mounted on the back of contracts, which have failed to receive the relevant statutory and constitutional approvals of the countries in which they operate,” he lamented.
He suggested that Ghana and Africa must boost the integrity of their legal systems by setting up fair and efficient mechanisms for commercial dispute adjudication and strengthening the systems for the conduct of arbitration in their various countries, which he said Ghana has already begun.
ETHICS
In his address, President Akufo-Addo reminded the public sector lawyers that their duty transcends ordinary legal practice.
He said it was about embedding legal excellence and ethical standards into every facet of public administration.
“This is no easy feat, but it requires an ongoing commitment to professional development, coordination, and a constant engagement with national policy goals. The grand public sector, like any complex institution, relies on clear, harmonised legal processes to function efficiently,” he said.
COMMITMENT
President Akufo-Addo supported the Attorney General’s drive to develop a modern, resourceful public legal service equipped and empowered to meet these new challenges.
He mentioned that since 2017, the government has made significant strides to build the legal service by, among others, recruiting 190 more state attorneys, including 70 whose appointments will soon be finalised.
He informed the conference of lawyers that his government’s commitment to the legal sector extends to the development of infrastructure.
As evidence, he mentioned the construction of 100 courthouses across the country and the development of 121 residential units nationwide for judges, alongside the construction of a magnificent 10-storey law house in Accra, which will house the Office of the Attorney General.
