Woyome pays GH¢4m to state

Businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome has refunded GH¢4 million to state coffers, representing part payment of the GH¢51.2 million he owes the state.

He has, through his lawyers, promised to pay the outstanding balance by quarterly instalments of GH¢5 million, commencing April 1, 2017.

Giving reasons why her outfit had filed an application at the Supreme Court to discontinue the request for oral examination of Woyome, the  Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, said her outfit had so far issued a receipt for the GH¢4 million.

A letter dated November 7, 2016 and signed by a Chief State Attorney, Mrs Dorothy Afriyie-Ansah, a copy of which is available to the Daily Graphic, acknowledged receipt of a cheque for GH¢4 million. 

The receipt was witnessed by the Solicitor-General, Mrs Helen Ziwu.

According to Mrs Appiah-Opong, Woyome’s lawyers had, on November 8, 2016, written to her outfit proposing to pay the outstanding sum by quarterly instalments.

The payment, she said, was made on the day she requested for a meeting with Mr Woyome and his lawyer, Mr Ken Anku. 

Present at the meeting was Mrs Afriyie-Ansah and Mrs Ziwu.

Mrs Appiah-Opong said the reason her outfit had filed to discontinue the application for oral examination of Mr Woyome was that Woyome had, in a letter dated October 27, 2016, made a request to pay the judgement debt by instalments. 

The Attorney-General said on November 7, 2016, a meeting was held with Mr Woyome in her office, in the presence of staff of her office, to discuss the schedule of payments. 

Other steps taken

She said prior to the application for leave to examine Mr Woyome, her outfit had taken several steps to enforce the orders of the Supreme Court.

On April 6, 2016, the Attorney-General initiated garnishee proceedings to issue against the managers of the ADB, uniBank (Ghana) Limited and UT Bank, bankers of Woyome

So far, the garnishee has yielded the following amounts: GH¢966.58, GH¢29,515.95, GH¢1,008.70, US$98.17, US$32,779.68, US$223.08 and Euros 1,226.72 which have since been paid into the bank account of the Attorney-General’s office at the Bank of Ghana. 

Mrs Appiah-Opong said on January 8, 2015, her outfit filed a writ of Fifa and renewed it on January 16, 2016 and attached one residential property at Tesano, House No 16B, 6th Street, Tesano, one residential property at Kpehe, two residential properties at Trassaco, Accra, a quarry at Maafi, Volta Region, and vehicles and equipment.

However, interpleaders have been filed by UT Bank in respect of the two residential properties situated at Trassaco and the one situated at Kpehe, while Anator Holdings Company Limited has also filed an interpleader in respect of the quarry at Maafi. 

The state is also contesting those claims in court.

Allegations denied

Denying allegations that President John Dramani Mahama caused her to file the application to discontinue the request to cross-examine Mr Woyome, the Attorney-General said “the depositions contained therein are scandalous, offensive, malicious and deliberate falsehood by the plaintiff/applicant”. 

“Furthermore, the President never suggested, directed or instructed me to discontinue the request of this office to orally examine the judgement debtor,” she said.

Attached to her claim was proof of Mr Woyome’s commitment letter dated October 27, 2016 and signed by his lawyer, Mr Ken Anku, which said: “Our client has a clear intention to pay the said judgement debt and that  Woyome, as a law-abiding citizen of Ghana, has and is always willing to pay the adjudged sum of money by instalment, given the opportunity, contrary to any perception otherwise.”

Scandalous

The Attorney-General denied an allegation that she had colluded with Mr Woyome to frustrate the execution of the judgement debt and further described those allegations as “offensive, malicious and deliberate falsehood”. 

“It is also scandalous, offensive, malicious and deliberate falsehood by plaintiff/applicant to state that in pursuing the enforcement of the judgement debt, my conduct has been ‘biased and a conflicted partisan politician’,” Mrs Appiah-Opong noted.

Dismissing allegations that she had shielded Mr Samuel Nerquaye Tetteh, a Chief State Attorney, whose wife received GH¢400,000 from Mr Woyome, the Attorney-General said a committee chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge, Mrs Justice Rose Owusu, was formed on December 11, 2015 to investigate the issue.

According to her, “the committee concluded its enquiry on October 3, 2016 and will submit a report soon”.

“The Office of the Attorney-General will make the findings of the committee public as soon as it is received,” she added.

She, accordingly, described as “scandalous, offensive, malicious and deliberate falsehood” claims by Mr Amidu that she had conveniently shelved an EOCO report indicting Mr Tetteh.

The plaintiff/applicant is Mr Amidu.

She assured the court that she and her staff “have every intention of taking all steps necessary to recover sums adjudged to be repaid to the State and to defend the State in respect of all spurious claims made against the State”.

Law firm

Mr Amidu also accused her of conflict of interest by alleging that she and her former law firm once represented Mr Woyome, but Mrs Appiah-Opong vehemently denied the claim.

She said that claim was false and that in any case her former law firm and former partner represented persons and companies that were at loggerheads with Mr Woyome.

Woyome’s position

For his part, Mr Woyome said Mr Amidu had deposed to “a lot of untruths and inaccuracies about me, the Attorney-General and the President. On the foregoing facts deposed above, the plaintiff/applicant has no locus standi to be allowed to examine me orally”.

Opposing Mr Amidu’s application to orally examine him, Mr Woyome said despite his depositions that he actually earned the judgement debt, the Attorney-General and the government had vigorously pursued the criminal case against him.

He said despite the fact that the High Court and the Court of Appeal had acquitted him of criminal charges, Mr Amidu continued to malign him in the media.

Mr Woyome said he never colluded with the Attorney-General and the President to frustrate the enforcement of the judgement of the court.

Payments

According to Mr Woyome, he received the money in contention in three tranches after entering into negotiations with the relevant bodies.

“This money was paid in three tranches on January 27, 2011 – GH¢10 million; April 8, 2011 – GH¢10 million and September 12, 2011 – GH¢14,188,987.06 at a time when the plaintiff/applicant was the Attorney-General,” he averred.

He said the Court of Appeal held that there was more than sufficient evidence which established that he had been involved in the bidding for CAN 2008 with Vamed GmbH and Waterville.

The Court of Appeal exonerated Mr Woyome of any wrongdoing on March 10, 2016 when the state appealed to challenge his acquittal by the High Court.

The Supreme Court, on July 29, 2014, in a review application, ordered Mr Woyome to refund the money because the contract upon which he received the payment had not been sent to Parliament for approval, contrary to the 1992 Constitution.

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