Gilbert Hie
Gilbert Hie - Managing Director of Société Générale Ghana Limited.By Tumi Adebimpe
The Judgement Debt Commission has been told by officials of Société Générale that there are no records of the $19.5 million the Ghanaian Government claimed it paid to Société Générale. The Commission, headed by Justice Yaw Apau, was told Société Générale has no record of the money in both their offices in Ghana and France.
In 2001, the Ghanaian Government sold an oil drilling ship at $24m that belonged to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation. The sale was to deal with several debts owed by the Corporation. Out of the $24m, K.T Hammond, the former Energy Minister of Ghana, who headed the sale of the ship, described how the money was spent. He said $1m was used to pay the government lawyers, $3.5m was paid to the Ministry of Finance and the remaining 19.5m was given to Société Générale as judgement debt. However, the Ministry of Finance said they can’t find documents concerning the transaction.
It was reported that Mr. Gilbert Hie, the Managing Director of Société Générale Ghana Limited, said the company came into existence in 2003 and has no inkling about the payment made in 2001. The Société Générale Headquarters in Paris, France, was contacted but they also have no record of the payment.
Mr. Hie was not surprised that the documents were not found. He explained how, by French law, such documents only have to be retained for 10 years. Beyond these years, it is not required by the law for such documents to be kept.
On the other hand, Dometi Sokpor, the lawyer for the Commission, opposed the claim. He maintained that by practice, they should have a copy of the document in their archives.