Gov't has vested interest in Woyome's case – Martin Amidu

Former Attorney General, Martin Amidu has asserted that government is deliberately dragging its feet in retrieving the GHC51 million judgment debt because it is an interested party.

The Attorney General’s Department has filed a notice at the Supreme Court to discontinue a case it filed about a fortnight ago against businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, in the controversial GHc51 million judgment debt saga.

In the earlier notice, the Attorney General would have orally examined Mr. Woyome on November 10, 2016.

But a notice of discontinuance has indicated that: “please take notice that the 1st Defendant Judgment Creditor [Attorney General] herein has this day [26th Day of October 2016] discontinued the present application to orally examine the 3rd Defendant Judgment Debtor [Alfred Agesi Woyome] with liberty to reapply.”

Woyome has been in the news since 2012 for allegedly putting in false claims to defraud the state to the tune of GH¢51.2 million, but the High Court and the Court of Appeal have cleared him of any wrongdoing.

However, the Supreme Court has directed him to refund the money, following which the Attorney-General’s office put in processes to recover the money.

But speaking on Joy FM’s News File programme saturday, the Citizen Vigilante questioned the reasoning for the Attorney General to stop pursuing the case, adding that the NDC government is culpable in the whole saga.

“The NDC government through the Attorney General is itself guilty of paying the money and that is why they should retrieve the money but they are not trying to do so because they are interested party. The facts are in my affidavits, the full affidavit is posted on my website. I have sworn to it…I’m going to meet them in court on the 10th November. If they want oral evidence it will be adduced, so I don’t want the government representative to question my integrity on phone. He should not misrepresent the facts, yes the contract was done in April 2008 during the NPP regime, but the NPP didn’t pay any money to Woyome, Woyome couldn’t get them to pay so he waited until when they were out of power he said he was an NDC financier he went and colluded with the government and the government looted out money, GHc51 million and gave it to him.”

He added: “Collect the money…you are not doing it. The letter which says that they are coming to settle with the AG, why don’t you go to court and ask for the case to be adjourned instead of discontinuing…that is common sense. They are trying to defraud Ghana, but they don’t know how to do it.”

But Deputy Minister of Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu who was on the same programme, dismissed claims that President John Mahama pressured the AG to withdraw the right to orally examine Mr Woyome.