The Attorney General’s Department has filed a notice at the Supreme Court to discontinue a case it filed about a week ago against businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, in the controversial GHc51 million judgment debt saga.
The notice of discontinuance stated that “please take notice that the 1st Defendant Judgment Creditor [Attorney General] herein has this day [26th Day of October 2016] discontinued the present application to orally examine the 3rd Defendant Judgment Debtor [Alfred Agesi Woyome] with liberty to reapply.”
Per the earlier notice, the Attorney General would have orally examined Mr. Woyome on November 10, 2016; a decision pressure group, OccupyGhana lauded.
OccupyGhana had also urged the AG to pursue the case to its logical conclusion to ensure the money is refunded to the state.
Background
[contextly_sidebar id=”YEG0xMDZKnj6x7GszgKUthystDrUfhJX”]Alfred Woyome was paid ¢51 million after he claimed that he helped Ghana to raise funds to construct stadia for purposes of hosting the CAN 2008 Nations Cup.
However an Auditor General’s report released in 2010, said the amount was paid illegally to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier.
The Supreme Court in 2014 ordered Mr. Woyome to pay back ¢51 million fraudulently taken from the state, after Mr. Martin Amidu, a former Attorney General challenged the legality of the judgment debt paid the businessman, Waterville, and Isofoton.
Following delays in retrieving the money, the 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.
Woyome prevents officials from valuing residence
Mr. Woyome in April 2016 prevented officials of the Attorney General’s Department and the Lands Commission from having access to his Kpehe residence for valuation.
The move was part of a directive from the Supreme Court to retrieve monies illegally paid to him.
But Woyome resisted the move, saying the planned valuation was illegal. Mr. Woyome had earlier won the criminal prosecution that sought to imprison him for the offence.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin