The February 2012 issue of the Ghana Business & Financial Times (GB&F) magazine has a number of interesting articles. One is a four-page article, ‘The Untold Story of Woyome’.

The article gives an insight into the background of Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome. For example, the article reveals that Woyome reportedly served as a Special Assistant/Military Intelligence Officer to the late Libyan leader, Col. Muammar Gaddafi for more than 13 years.

The article also quoted one of Mr. Woyome’s special aides, Mr. Kwame Tawiah, as saying that their external lawyers were ready for a long, legal battle, even to the International Court. If that happens, the foreign accounts of Ghana would be frozen.

As the courts decide whether businessman Alfred Woyome has, indeed, defrauded the government of a colossal amount of money, Felix Dela Klutse delves into the “background of the man at the centre of the financial scandal.

There is no shred of doubt that no individual has ever gained fame or notoriety - depending how one views the situation with such speed and style in Ghana’s political history like Alfred Agbesi Woyome, the businessman at the centre of the controversial GH¢51 million judgment debt.

The man gained international attention owing to the contentious judgment debt he obtained. He has been formally charged with conspiracy to commit crime; defrauding by false pretence and corrupting public officials, when he was arraigned together with three other people before the court, presided over by Justice John Ajet-Nasam. News on Woyome dominated the front pages two months. Demonstrations were organized about him (for and against), songs were composed about him; and some ministers have been sacked or resigned because of him.

Even his presence in court draws dozens of loyalists thronging the court premises in solidarity with the businessman.

Woyome has also polarized the NDC, with two groups in the party known as‘Woyomers and non-Woyomers! Through Woyome, unknown words like “gargantuan” crimes and ‘judgment debt” have now become a part of the average Ghanaian’s lexicon.