Former Power Minister Dr Kwabena Donkor has criticised Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame, accusing him of failing to address the $134 million judgment debt imposed on Ghana by a tribunal in the United Kingdom.

This comes after a District of Columbia Court in the United States granted a Motion for Default Judgment in favour of Trafigura Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC), ordering the Ghana government to pay $111,493,828.92, plus mandatory post-judgment interest.

• Read also: US court uncovers Ghana made ‘intrinsically weak’ appeals in $134m judgement debt to Trafigura

The ruling has sparked concerns that Ghana's assets, including its High Commission building in the U.S., could be at risk of liquidation if GPGC seeks to enforce the judgment to recover its investment.

Dr Donkor, who oversaw the emergency power agreement that led to this dispute, argues that the New Patriotic Party government's termination of the agreement was unjustified and questions why the Attorney General and the Ministry of Energy failed to resolve the legal liabilities that have now culminated in this adverse ruling.

"What was the Attorney General's Department and the Ministry of Energy doing? Did they sleep on the job? Or did they believe the arbitration settlement was so strong that it wasn’t worth challenging?"

• Read also: U.S. court awards $111m to Trafigura in judgment debt default against Ghana

Dr Donkor revealed that after the arbitration settlement, the government had agreed to negotiate with Trafigura on a settlement plan, considering an option to purchase the plant and take it over.

However, he claims the Attorney General did not follow through.

"This is not the first of such issues we filed where we go to arbitration, there is a judgement, we agree a settlement and renege on it,” he added.

The MP for Pru-East further assured that a future National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration would thoroughly investigate all such judgment debts, with the potential prosecution of public officials responsible for causing financial loss to the state.