A U.S. District Court document has revealed a series of critical errors made by Ghana's legal team, ultimately leading to the country's failure to contest a significant $134 million judgment awarded to British energy firm Trafigura.

The judgment, initially issued by English courts, arose from a complex legal dispute centered around a power purchase agreement between Trafigura's subsidiary, the Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC), and the government of Ghana.

The roots of this dispute date back to January 26, 2021, when a UK tribunal issued a final award, finding that the Ghanaian government had breached its contractual obligations under the power purchase agreement with GPGC. This breach occurred when Ghana unilaterally terminated the agreement on February 18, 2018. The tribunal ruled that Ghana was liable to pay GPGC an early termination fee of $134,348,661.

In addition to the termination payment, the tribunal also ordered the Ghanaian government to reimburse GPGC's arbitration fees and expenses, which amounted to $3,309,877.74, with interest accruing at a three-month USD LIBOR rate, compounded quarterly. Despite the tribunal's clear ruling, Ghana made only partial payments, totaling $1,897,692.40, leaving an outstanding balance of $111,493,828.92 with interest continuing to accumulate.

Ghana's situation worsened when it attempted to challenge the UK judgment but missed the critical deadlines to do so in the UK courts. A memorandum from Chief Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia court, dated August 6, 2024, outlined Ghana's failed attempts to bring the case to American courts. By this point, Ghana's legal team had already missed crucial opportunities to contest the award in the UK, resulting in severe consequences.

Initially, Ghana was granted an extension by the UK courts to challenge the tribunal's award. However, the Ghanaian legal team failed to meet this extended deadline, and a subsequent request for a second extension was denied by the UK courts, which deemed Ghana's grounds for challenging the award as "intrinsically weak."

These procedural failures left Ghana in a precarious position. Consequently, Judge Boasberg granted a Motion for Default Judgment in favor of the Ghana Power Generation Company, awarding GPGC the remaining balance of $111,493,828.92.

The ruling also included mandatory post-judgment interest, further compounding the financial burden on the Ghanaian government.