State fails to retrieve $3.8m three years after judgement against mining company

It has emerged that the state is still struggling to retrieve $3.8 million from the defunct Dunkwa Continental Mining Company (DCMC), three years after a court awarded the cost against the international mining entity.

The DCMC and the Continental Construction and Mining Company Limited filed a $200-million claim against Ghana in 2011, accusing the government of unlawfully terminating their contracts.

However, a tribunal constituted under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) dismissed the claim in August 2015, on the grounds that the case had no merit.

The court awarded costs of $3.16 million against the applicants and further ordered a refund of $700,000 to Ghana, bringing the total amount to $3.8 million.



However, at yesterday’s sitting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, it came to light that the Attorney-General's Department, the Ministry of Finance and the Controller and Accountant-General's Department (CAGD) had not been able to retrieve the amount from the company, citing inability to locate the managers of the company as an excuse.

PAC sitting

There were interesting developments at the sitting when a Deputy Minister of Finance, Mrs Abena Osei Opare; the Controller and Accountant-General, Mr Eugene Ofosuhene, and other officials appeared before the committee to be quizzed on some infractions cited in the 2016 Auditor-General’s Report.



Representatives of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), including the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the National Youth Council (NYC), also appeared

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