‘GH¢95m payment to West Blue is arrears settlement not judgment debt’

The government is set to pay West Blue Ghana GH¢95 million for the settlement of arrears owed to the IT Consulting firm for work done under the National Single Window and Integrated Risk Management System contract executed in August 2015.

A source at the company explaining the issue told by this paper that “the payment is not for the unlawful termination of the contract but for underpayment of West Blue for work done during the contract period from 2015 to 2020.”

This, the source said was contained in a consent judgment filed on July 10, 2024, and adopted as the judgment of the court.

It is recalled that West Blue filed a suit at an Accra High Court on November 14, 2024, requesting the court to order the Attorney-General (1st defendant) and Ghana Revenue Authority (2nd defendant) to make full payment of GH¢289 million being outstanding fees due for services rendered.

According to the IT company, the outstanding fees were occasioned as a result of the government’s (Finance Ministry and GRA) failure to pay West Blue the full contract price (from 2015 to 2020) fee – which is a fixed percentage of the final invoice Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) value of import consignments entering into Ghana through the seaports, airports and land borders.

Under West Blue’s contract with the government, acting through the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the GRA, for providing the National Single Window and Integrated Risk Management System (NSW Contract), West Blue was to be paid a contract price that is a fee equivalent to 0.35 per cent (zero point three five per cent), and subsequently reduced to 0.28 per cent of the final invoice CIF value of all import consignments entering into Ghana through the seaports, airports and land borders.

However, the government from 2015 till the contract ended in 2020, failed to pay West Blue the full amount of the fixed percentage of final invoice CIF value for import consignments entering Ghana through the seaports, airports and land borders.

West Blue’s suit against the government went to a pre-trial stage and after several appearances before the pre-trial review judge, parties expressed their desire to the court to settle the Suit by negotiation.

In the consent judgment statement, the government of Ghana’s negotiating team made up of officers from the Ministry of Finance, Ghana Revenue Authority and the Office of the Attorney General had a series of meetings with officers of the West Blue Ghana and its lawyer for an out-of-court settlement.

At negotiation meetings, West Blue (Plaintiff) presented various scenarios to justify its total claim of GH¢289,547, 825.36 (based on total Final Invoice CIF value, Assessed CIF, Assessed CCVR collection and outstanding claims per GRA commissioned Audit) plus General Damages, Compensation and Costs.

After lengthy deliberations and considering the various scenarios presented by the parties, the parties settled on the sum of GH¢95,000,000.

Plaintiff (West Blue) expressed its willingness to accept the GH¢95,000,000 net of all taxes instead of GH¢289 million in satisfaction of all its claims.

A consent judgment was therefore, entered in favour of West Blue (Plaintiff) against the Defendants for recovery of the sum of GH¢95,000,000 in full and final satisfaction of Plaintiff’s claims.

BY TIMES REPORTER