Finance Ministry ordered to pay GETFund arrears
The Accra Fast Track High Court yesterday ordered the Ministry of Finance to pay the GETFund all the arrears owed it by the government between July 2013 and June 2014.
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The court ruled that the GH¢500 million arrears should be paid to enable the Fund to discharge its statutory responsibilities.
The order followed an application by Mr Richard Nyamah, a youth activist, against the government for failing to pay the 2.5 per cent VAT it collected to the GETFund.
He had argued that the Fund had been crippled due to lack of funds it needed for educational projects and scholarships for Ghanaian students abroad.
The court also ruled that Mr Nyamah had the capacity to bring the action against the government as a citizen to ensure that a public fund was functional to serve the interest of the public.
The court, presided over by Mr L. L. Mensah, had ruled that it was unlawful for the government to deprive the Fund the resources it needed to operate.
In his application, Mr Nyamah told the court that by law, the Ministry of Finance had to pay the compulsory 2.5 per cent VAT it collected into the GETFund account.
However, since July 2013 the ministry had failed to pay the money into the account of the GETFund as required by law.
He had argued that such non-payment had crippled the capacity of the GETFund to undertake infrastructural expansion projects and sponsorship of Ghanaian students abroad.
The Attorney-General’s Department, however, disagreed and subsequently filed an application in opposition to challenge the capacity of Mr Nyamah to sue the state.
Countering, the counsel for Mr Nyamah, Mr Sean Opoku, opposed the argument put up by the AG’s Department on the grounds that as a citizen, Mr Nyamah had the capacity to bring the action before the court and prayed the court to compel the Ministry of Finance to pay the debt the government owed the GETFund.