Sunday, November 20, 2016

OCCUPYGHANA HAILS AMIDU OVER WOYOME GRILLING

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Saturday, November 19, 2016

Pressure group OccupyGhana is jubilating over the Supreme Court’s decision to allow former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Martin A.B.K. Amidu, to cross-examine National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, in respect of the  GH¢51.2 million unlawfully paid to him (Woyome) by the government.

The court, presided over by Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, on Wednesday granted Mr. Amidu - anti-corruption crusader - leave to examine Mr. Woyome as to his means of livelihood, with a view to making those means and assets available for enforcement.

“OccupyGhana salutes the Honourable Court for this fantastic ruling and Mr. Amidu for not giving up the fight for Ghana to recover its monies from Woyome,” the pressure group lauded in a statement yesterday. It added, “This ruling is refreshing because it comes against the background of some shameful responses to Mr. Amidu's sterling work, from our government and its surrogates; and we would want to address those now.”

Peddling Falsehood
According to the group, some NDC members, including Communications Minister Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, a lawyer called Abraham Amaliba and even President Mahama, had been peddling ‘falsehoods’ since Mr.  Amidu intensified his resolve to retrieve the huge amount from Mr. Woyome for the state.

OccupyGhana said the NDC’s comments were untrue because “There is no way Woyome could or should have known about the application that was filed, and then in reaction, write to the AG to say he was prepared to pay.

“The application that was filed on 12th October, 2016 was in accordance with the applicable rules, an 'ex parte' application. An application is said to be made 'ex parte' when it is taken for granted without notice to, or contest by, any person adversely interested. 

Thus, no formal notice of the application was served on Woyome. He could therefore not have known about the application, unless, once again, there are serious leaks in the AG's Department.”

The group said, “We recall that it came out in the trial of Woyome (when he was acquitted) that internal documents created in the AG's Department were leaked to Woyome by persons working within that Department, and Woyome gleefully tendered those documents in court, leading in part to his acquittal. Thus, if what Amaliba said was true, then we are in worse trouble than we first thought.”

Minister’s Insults
OccupyGhana further said that on Saturday, 12th November 2016, Dr. Omane-Boamah on Joy FM's ‘Newsfile’ programme, insulted and spewed all kinds of invectives at Mr. Amidu over the Woyome issue and indicated that although Mr. Amidu had since given Dr. Omane-Boamah a response, “one particular claim caught our attention.”

It recalled, “Omane-Boamah claimed that the AG had commenced investigations into the actions of Lawyer Nerquaye-Tetteh - whose wife was reported to have somehow earned GH¢400,000 from Woyome, after he was paid. Note that Nerquaye-Tetteh was the lawyer tasked with handling the suit by Woyome against Ghana, and who decided (or was instructed) not to oppose Woyome's claim.

“What the AG hoped Ghanaians would not notice, and which Omane-Boamah deliberately did not disclose, was that the committee was mandated to conclude its work and ‘submit a report with recommendations’ to the Legal Service Board ‘within one month.’ It is apparent that no one within Government or the AG's Department is mindful of that time limit, and a one-month mandate can stretch into one year, without any queries or regrets. Yet, somehow the people of Ghana are supposed to be confident in these institutions.”

Ghanaians’ Interest
OccupyGhana said, “Throughout this matter, the interest of Ghana has been thrown to the dogs by those who have been elected or appointed and paid with our taxes to protect our interest. They agreed to pay this money to Woyome without a contract. They allowed him to amend his claim in court for more times than was allowed, without lifting a finger in opposition. They decided not to show up in court, thereby allowing him a free and uncontested route to a default judgment.”

It added, “Even when they claimed to have discovered, belatedly, that there was no contract with Woyome, they only put out a half-hearted effort to reverse the mess that they had caused. Nothing is more painful than the fact that after they had sued for a court to determine that we did not owe Woyome anything, they still went ahead to pay the full amount to him; that was even when a court had agreed that we could hold on to two-thirds of the amount.”

EOCO’s Inaction
According to OccupyGhana, “When EOCO was asked to investigate the matter, they could only come up with a wishy-washy ‘preliminary report’ which was more notorious for what it did not say than for the precious little it said. When the matter broke, several government persons, including some who have subsequently been rewarded with ministerial appointments, lined up to defend Woyome without a shred of shame.”

They said even after Mr. Martin Amidu was successful in obtaining a Supreme Court judgment against Woyome, there has been “a long and inexplicable delay in enforcement, that has grown from being ridiculous to ludicrous by the day. And it was a pathetic sight to see our Attorney General marshal several top lawyers (paid with our taxes) to court to strenuously oppose Mr. Amidu's application to examine Woyome.

“Woyome has bled us dry of GH51M of our tax monies. Thanks to the Supreme Court and Mr. Amidu, he is no longer being allowed to lead us by the nose around the park with a song and a dance; no, thanks to the AG!”


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