The oral examination of businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome, has been postponed due to the unavailability of the judge, Justice Ampah Benin.
Mr. Woyome was expected to be orally examined today, Monday, October 2, by a Deputy Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame over his GH¢51 debt to the state.
[contextly_sidebar id=”a9b3QL6c0DDdN6V46gWGwUco2QsHZKtf”]But the court has since set October 10 as the new date for the oral examination.
A Deputy Attorney-General, Godfred Dame, in July began an inquiry into sources of income and assets of the businessman in order to recover the monies due to the state.
The last hearing of the case at the Supreme Court witnessed an almost two-hour grilling of Mr. Woyome by the deputy Attorney-General.
Mr. Woyome had prayed the Supreme Court to stay proceedings on the oral examination since he had filed for a review of the case.
But the Supreme Court dismissed the application for stay of proceedings by Businessman Alfred Woyome, seeking to halt the oral examination.
According to the court, presided over by a single Judge, Justice Alfred Benin, the application had no basis.
Earlier this month, the government began a valuation of Woyome’s properties in a quest to retrieve the GHs51m wrongfully paid to him.
Some security personnel and officials from the Ghana Valuation Board, were sent to the Trasacco residence of Mr. Woyome to conduct the valuation to build a concrete evidence on his ability to pay the debt for his trial.
Background to saga
Mr. Woyome was paid the GHc 51 million after claiming he helped Ghana raise funds to construct stadia for the hosting of the 2008 African Cup of Nations.
However, an Auditor General’s report released in 2010, held that the amount was paid illegally to him.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court in 2014 ordered Mr. Woyome to pay back the money, after a former Attorney General, Martin Amidu, challenged the legality of the payments.
Following delays in retrieving the money, Supreme Court judges unanimously granted the Attorney-General clearance to execute the court’s judgment, ordering Mr. Woyome to refund the cash to the state.
There had been previous attempts to orally examine Mr. Woyome with Mr. Amidu himself, in 2016, filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking to examine Alfred Woyome, on how he was going to pay back the money, after the Attorney General’s office under the Mahama Administration, led by the former Minister for Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, discontinued a similar application.
In February 2017 however, Mr. Amdu withdrew his suit seeking an oral examination, explaining that the change of government and the assurance by the new Attorney General to retrieve all judgement debts wrongfully paid to individuals, had given him renewed confidence in the system.
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By: Fred Djabanor/citifmonline.com/Ghana