How Woyome Was Paid

Details of the bank account into which government, through its agents including the then Attorney-General, Betty Mould-Iddrisu and Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, paid Alfred Agbesi Woyome, National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier his supposed GH¢51.2million judgment debt, have emerged.

Available documents reveal that these payments were made with the express consent and approval of the two ministers involved, Betty Mould-Iddrisu and Dr Duffuor, after exchange of a number of correspondences between them and Woyome’s lawyers.

First was the payment of an amount of GH¢17, 094, 493. 53 into Alfred Woyome’s Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) account number 1161000009158 which is held at the ADB House in Accra on September, 22, 2010 with Swift Code: ADNTGHAC.

This payment was made with a letter from the Finance Ministry to the Controller and Accountant General and signed by Dr Duffuor himself.

It was followed by another payment of GH¢10, 000, 000.00 to the same ADB account on January 27, 2011, whilst a similar amount of GH¢10, 000, 000.00 on April 8, 2011.

All the above payments were charged to Government of Ghana Reserved Fund Vote account at the Bank of Ghana, as contained in the 2010 and 2011 budgets.

Subsequently, the Finance Minister issued further instructions for the payment of an amount of GH¢14, 188, 987.06 at the same bank and the same account, bringing total payments to GH¢51.2million as against the court approved GH¢17million.

This time it was charged to Intra Sectoral Vote account.

Betty issued instructions for Duffuor to pay the money involved “in respect of the rehabilitation of the Ohene Djan, Baba Yara and El Wak Sports stadia to Mr Alfred Woyome.”

Dr Duffuor’s letter gave explicit instructions for the payment of these sums to be charged to the budgets of the respective years in which the payments were made to Woyome in his personal capacity when he had no contract with the state.

With the exception of the first payment, the remaining payments which were made thereafter to Alfred Woyome, currently in police grips for over three counts of suspected fraud against the State, were without recourse to the provisions of the court and the High Court judge that sat on the case.

This was evident in a letter written and signed by then Attorney-General, Mrs Mould-Iddrisu, to Finance Minister Dr Duffuor, per the terms of the agreement on 15th September 2010 in which she stated, “Following a writ filed by me subsequent to this judgment, His Lordship Tanko Amadu granted a partial stay of execution of the Terms of Settlement but ordered that the first instalment of GH¢17, 094, 493.53 that was due Mr Woyome on 30th June 2010 plus interest accruing thereon should be paid to Mr Woyome pending the final determination of the suit between the parties.”

The judge had asked the state to pay Woyome the sum of GH¢51.2million in three equal instalments beginning 30th June 2010 and ending 31st August 2010; GH¢41, 811, 480.59 as judgment debt; GH¢9, 447, 000.00 as interest from September 2006 to April 2010 and GH¢25,000.00 as cost, all amounting to GH¢51, 283, 480.59.

But while the case was pending at the court, Betty entered into an agreement with Woyome’s lawyers, Peasah-Boadu & Co., to pay the rest of the money per a so-called pre-trial settlement conference on December 7, 2010.

She therefore authorised the Finance Minister, Dr Duffuor, to pay the remaining GH¢34million to Woyome in a letter dated December 9, 2010, two days after the pre-trial settlement conference.