SC orders sale of Woyome's houses, quarry worth GHS20m

Ghana’s Supreme Court has ordered the sale of properties discovered by the state to belong to embattled businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome to defray a GHS51.2 million judgement debt paid Mr Woyome which the country’s apex court has ruled he must refund.

According to the court, a claim by the now-defunct UT Bank that Mr Woyome used two of his houses at Trassaco as collateral for a loan could not be proven.

The court also ruled that Mr Woyome’s quarry was not used as collateral as he and the bank had claimed.

Apart from the two houses at Trassacco, Mr Woyome’s property at Kpehe as well as a stone quarry he owns will be sold.

They all have a total worth of GHS20 million, according to Deputy Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame, who addressed the media after the ruling.

Mr Dame said the state will initiate processes to auction the properties.

Also, the sole Judge, Justice Alfred Anthony Bening, has awarded a cost of GHS60,000 each to be paid by Anator Holdings and Quarry Limited; and UT Bank.

Mr Woyome has already refunded a little over GHS4 million of the GHS51.2 million.

Meanwhile, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Arusha, Tanzania, will on Friday, 28 June 2019 deliver judgment on the matter involving Mr Woyome v. the Republic of Ghana.

This was disclosed in a press release issued by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights on Monday, 24 June 2019.

The African Court, which complements and reinforces the functions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, was established by African countries to ensure the protection of human and peoples’ rights in Africa.

Mr Woyome dragged the Republic of Ghana to the African Court as part of processes concerning his dissatisfaction with a ruling by Ghana’s Supreme Court that he should refund some money to the state since he got it through fraudulent means.

The businessman stated that his human rights were being trampled by the Republic of Ghana in relation to the case in which he sued the country for abrogating a financial engineering services contract and was paid GHS51.2 million as judgment debt.

The release from the African Court also stated that: “The delivery of the judgment will be live-streamed.”

The Arusha-based court on 24 November 2017 gave an order that all steps by the state of Ghana to retrieve the GHS51 million from Mr Woyome be halted until a final determination of the case by Ghana’s Supreme Court.