An Accra based Commercial Court presided over by her ladyship, Justice Janapare Bartels-Kodwo will rule on a case brought before it by three Members of Parliament who are challenging a $700 million loan acquisition by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
The three, Dr. Anthony Osei Akoto, Samuel Atta Kyea and Mathew Opoku Prempeh claim GNPC secured the loan without Parliamentary approval, describing the move as illegal, hence the court action.
[contextly_sidebar id=”bsZ5PA3plR1jOLpZPiBQOB0r0jysGRqX”]The Court on Wednesday adjourned sitting to Thursday to enable lawyers of the three MPs to file a supplementary affidavit and amend their statement of case relative to the supplementary affidavit to be filed.
Appearing in court on Thursday, lead counsel for the three MPs, Nana Asante Bediatuo filed the supplementary affidavit.
Meanwhile, lawyer for GNPC, Tony Lithur is expected to also file his response on Friday, December 12, 2014.
The three MPs officially filed the case on November 27, 2014 at the high court and proceedings took off at Commercial Court ‘A’ on December, 3,2014.
Counsel for Plaintiffs, Nana Asante Bediatuo, sought an interim injunction to restrain the GNPC from taking further steps in pursuit of the $700 million loan.
But Lithur opposed it saying,” GNPC as a statutory institution is mindful of its obligations, and believes it has a strong case, and therefore would not do anything to undermine the case.”
In an earlier interview with Citi News, the Chief Executive Officer of the GNPC, Alex Mould defended the decision to secure the loan by saying “I know some people have been mischievous, saying that GNPC is raising this money to give to government. GNPC is not raising the money to give to government.”
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By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana