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Opinions of Friday, 8 December 2017

Columnist: Kwaku Badu

Did Nketia and NDC really benefit from the GH51.2M dubious judgment debt?

Alfred Woyome Alfred Woyome

I must confess, I have not been able to put an end to my extreme puzzlement, upon listening to the Wednesday 6th December 2017 edition of Kokrokoo morning show on Peace FM where a panel member incredibly alleged that a number of NDC Party functionaries were beneficiaries of Woyome’s dubious GH51.2 million judgment debt payment.

Perhaps, this chilling allegation may explain why a host of NDC communicators defended and continue to defend the wrongful judgment debt payment to the hilt, in spite of the fact that Woyome once admitted on Kwame Sefa Khai’s Kokrokoo show that he had no contract with the government of Ghana.

Given their calamitous errors in judgment, which obviously caused their humiliating 2016 election defeat, it is indeed baffling that the ever so litigious, albeit non-performing NDC apparatchiks have been vigorously bulldozing their way through in a desperate attempt to convince their aggrieved supporters of their consuming desire to recapture power in 2020.

But with all due respect, it would appear that the NDC Party stalwarts are living in a denial. They have indeed lost touch with the reality.

Ironically, however, it would appear that it is only NDC Party founder and former President J. J. Rawlings, who is well-aware of the enormity of the problems confronting his beloved party. He has thus rightly refused to live in a denial.

Ex-President Rawlings admits: “Most people are yet to recover from the traumatic shock of the December 7th election results. “But I will have to state that if we turn our backs to our history us a party, we cannot escape the responsibility for the result”.

“I kept providing the warning whenever and wherever I could, and in public as well. “But no, once again the uncouth and uncultured in our party and government chose to insult and disrespect some of us” (Rawlings, 2016).

But despite the admissible evidence of rampant corruption and hopeless incompetence, the General Secretary of the party, Asiedu Nketia and his cohorts have been holding a phantom believe that they lost the 2016 election because their aggrieved supporters failed to go to the polls.

Contrary to the NDC apparatchiks disagreements and disappointments amid numerous excuses over the 2016 election results, the founder of the NDC Party and former President J. J. Rawlings would rather prefer to blame the leadership for their unobjectionable incompetence, corruption and shenanigans.

There is no gainsaying to submit that the brassbound NDC loyalists do not want to acknowledge the fact that Ghana’s economy is in such a state because a large portion of the country’s resources went down the drain from the irreversible mismanagement and the wanton sleazes and corruption committed by the officials of the erstwhile NDC administration.

In fact, the erstwhile NDC government even managed to allocate judgement debt amount in the national budget (around GH800 million).

Somewhere in 2010, it was reported that the late Mills warned some officials in his government not to effect payment to Woyome, and yet the conspiratorial plotters defied the good old Mills orders and doled out a staggering amount of GH51.2 to Wayome, who had no contract with the government of Ghana.

Subsequently, however, in July 2014, the Supreme Court of Ghana ordered Businessman Mr Alfred Woyome to pay back to the state a Gh 51.2million dubious judgment debt paid him between 2009 and 2010.

It must however be emphasised that the Supreme Court’s ruling was as a result of a review of the court's earlier decision sought by former Attorney General Martin Amidu, who maintained that Woyome, like international firms, Waterville and Isofoton, had no valid contract to be paid any amount by the state in judgment debt.

Rightly so, the Supreme Court ruled that Isofoton S.A. and Waterville Holdings BVI, must also refund the dubious judgement debt payments made to them by the erstwhile NDC government.

According to the highest Court of the land, the Waterville Holdings BVI, which was allegedly involved in the construction of some stadia in Ghana, ahead of the hosting of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, was wrongfully paid €25 million and thus must refund the money. While the Court ordered Isofoton S.A. to refund US$325,472 it received as judgment debt from the Government of Ghana.

Unfortunately, however, none of those monies were retrieved by the erstwhile NDC government, in spite of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

We cannot also obliterate from memory the scandalous corruption cases involving GYEEDA, AZONTABA, SADA, SUBAH, the purported $250million debt incurred on the faded STS housing deal, the dubious Embraer 190 Aircrafts and hanger for the Ghana Armed Forces and over a US$100 million oil revenue loss between 2011 and 2013 as reported by the Public Interest& Accountability Committee.

It is indeed cumbrous for one to recount how Ghana’s economy was sunk deeper and deeper into the mire under President Mahama’s leadership.

In any case, we shall keep our fingers cross for the anticipated cross-examination of Woyome at the Supreme Court and hope fervently that he carries out roll-call of the beneficiaries of the dubious GH51.2 million judgment debt payments.

K. Badu, UK.