Vice President of the policy think tank IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has suggested that the government is coming to terms with the likelihood that there is no easy resolution to the $140 million judgement debt claim by GPGC, a subsidiary of the international commodities company Trafigura.
Consequently, he mentioned that the government is contemplating a strategy to restructure payments in upcoming years as part of the negotiation for a payment arrangement.
He wrote on X: “Our sources indicate that the govt of Ghana has begun to realize that it has to beat a legal retreat & start negotiating a payment plan with Trafigura re the $140m judgment debt as it has no other leverage with them. As usual, they want to shift payment tranches to future years.”
Background
Trafigura subsidiary is at risk of seizing Ghanaian state properties in London to fulfill a US$140 million award. This comes after a court ruled that there was no need to serve interim charging orders through diplomatic channels, as reported by the Global Arbitration Review.
In the United Kingdom, the High Court has dismissed the Government of Ghana’s challenge regarding the procedures used to serve the country’s proceedings related to a judgment debt claim by GPGC, a subsidiary of the international commodities company Trafigura.
The company had taken legal action against the Ghanaian government over the termination of two power agreements and was granted a judgment debt of US$140 million by a UK court.
Ghana argued that, under existing laws, the company should have served the government through diplomatic channels, contrary to a ruling that allowed alternative services.
The High Court ruled that Ghana’s attempt to use the State Immunity Act provisions as a basis for preventing Trafigura from serving them with judgment debt documents via postal and email methods was not valid.
Trafigura subsequently used email to send court documents through the finance ministry, with all correspondence duly acknowledged, and court dates were agreed upon, as the Government of Ghana instructed its legal representatives to engage with the company.
“Trafigura, a multinational commodities-trading company based in Singapore, is the majority owner of GPGC, a power company that secured the award in January 2021 after an arbitral tribunal found that Ghana had unlawfully terminated a contract for the installation and operation of two power plants,” Global Arbitration Review wrote in an October 13 publication.
In GPGC v The Government of the Republic of Ghana, GPGC was represented by James Willan KC and Catherine Jung of Essex Court Chambers, instructed by Stephenson Harwood.
Ghana was represented by Stephen Houseman KC and Luke Tattershall, also of Essex Court, instructed by White & Case.