Betty Mould blamed for delay of International Tobacco Ghana court case
Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu, a former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, has been blamed for the delay in the full prosecution of the case between International Tobacco Ghana (ITG), and some state institutions.
The institutions are the Attorney- General’s Department, Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) of the Ghana Revenue Authority, and Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).
Mr Felix Ntirakwah, Counsel for the ITG, apportioned the blame, when he appeared before the Jugement Debt Commission, in Accra on Monday.
He claimed that although judgment had already been given, the case was pending in court because Mrs Iddrisu failed to abide by some aspects of the ruling, which favoured ITG.
The Counsel explained that though judgement on the case was entered in January 2004, and payment of some money was made to ITG in 2009, the case was not over.
Mr Ntirakwah said SSNIT and other occupants, who were allowed to occupy the premises of ITG by SSNIT, refused to vacate the building as ordered by the court in its ruling.
He did not give details about the matter because it was still in court, but he told the Commission that SSNIT had refused to vacate the premises because it claimed it had purchased the premises duly from CEPS.
Mr Ntirakwah said the court ruled that ITG should take possession of all its assets seized by government with the payment of compensation for the wrongful seizure.
He presented documentation covering the court case between ITG and the defendants, and others relating to the case as requested by the Commission.
In 1989, CEPS issued a distress warrant for some properties of ITG to be sold for non-payment of tax for which SSNIT purchased some of the properties.
The properties included the company’s headquarters, two bungalows, another estate at Boukrom in Kumasi, and the company’s trademark, which was sold to Meridian Tobacco.
The ITG in 1990 took the CEPS to court to seek redress on the sale of its trademark to Meridian Tobacco and the seizure and auctioning of its properties.
The court in 2004 ruled in favour of ITG and ordered CEPS to the company accrued rent and compensation in three tranches as prescribed by the Lands Valuations Board Ghc 4 million were paid in 2009 when Mrs Iddrisu was Attorney-General and Minister for Justice .
In another development, Kae Construction Limited, which was also expected to appear before the Commission, could not turn up because the bailiff could not locate the current premises of the company.
Kae Construction Limited had secured judgement for the payment of a whopping amount after a contract awarded to it by the Northern Regional Co-ordinating Council and the Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL) for the construction of an irrigation facility was terminated in 1984.
Source: GNA