Vodafone sale: Finance Minister complies with court order
The Minister of Finance yesterday complied with the order of the Commercial Division of the Accra Fast Track High Court by presenting copies of the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) involving the sale of 70 per cent shares of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone in 2008 to the court.
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The Director of Legal Services at the ministry, Mr Paul Komla Asimenu, presented the documents to the court, presided over by Mrs Gertrude Torkornoo, on behalf of the minister.
The court gave the order at its last sitting when the minister or his representative failed to appear before it after the court had subpoenaed the minister.
When the case was called yesterday, Mr Asimenu was cross-examined by Mr Bright Akwetey, counsel for the plaintiffs in the case.
When he was asked of the whereabouts of the original copies of the agreement, Mr Asimenu said he could not answer to that because he could not tell whether or not the ministry was in possession of the original copies of the agreement.
Rather, he explained, what the ministry had in its possession was a confirmed copy of the agreement which was downloaded from a CD ROM.
One of the agreements tendered in evidence indicated that the “sale and purchase agreement is supposed to remain in full force and effect for a period of not less than 999 years”.
Other witnesses yet to appear before the court are a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joe Ghartey, and a representative from the Attorney-General’s Department.
The plaintiffs — Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, Michael Kosi Dedey, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, Naa Kordai Assimeh, Ms Rhodaline Imoro Ayarna and Kwame Jantuah — all members of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), are demanding from the Minister of Finance the original documents covering the SPA of Ghana Telecom, dated July 3, 2008.
They commenced the action in October, 2008 in their capacity as private citizens.
The plaintiffs contend that the agreement entered into by the government to offload its shares in the company was not in accordance with due process of the law and was, therefore, a nullity.
They argue that the SPA entered into by the Government of Ghana, Ghana Telecom (GT) and Vodafone for the sale of 70 per cent of GT for $900 million was against public interest and constituted an abuse of the discretionary powers of the government.
They further contend that the decision by the government to transfer the assets, property shares, equipment, among others, to Vodafone was obnoxious, unlawful and inimical to the public interest, particularly when no compensation was required from Vodafone for the stated assets.
According to the plaintiffs, the three Ministers of State who signed the agreement on behalf of the government did not exercise the level of circumspection required of them as public officers, in relation to public property.
The reliefs they are seeking from the court include a declaration that the agreement entered into by the government was not in accordance with due process of the law and was, therefore, a nullity.
They are further praying the court to give an order declaring that the forcible grouping of autonomous state institutions established by law, namely, Voltacom, Fibreco, the VRA Fibre Network and VRA Fibre Assets with Ghana Telecom, to form the purported Enlarged GT Group was unlawful and, therefore, void and of no legal effect.
The plaintiffs are also praying for an order of perpetual injunction to restrain the government from disposing of the 70 per cent share of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone or any other foreign company, without first exploring other avenues for funding.
Story: Story: Sebastian Syme
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