Ace Ankomah
Pressure group OccupyGhana is not happy about the Attorney General’s attempt to abandon the retrieval of the GH¢51.2 million unlawfully paid to embattled Alfred Agbesi Woyome by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
It has emerged that the AG has filed a notice to discontinue dragging Mr. Woyome to court to give oral evidence on why he has refused to refund the huge amount of money to the state in spite of the court’s order.
Withdrawal Process
The application to withdraw the process that would have seen Mr. Woyome – a leading member of the NDC – back in court to testify on his assets, was said to have been filed on October 26, 2016, but the pressure group claims the AG had taken steps to protect some alleged accomplices in the loot.
“OccupyGhana is shocked, horrified, disgusted and dismayed to discover that as we suspected and feared, there is a current attempt by the Attorney General of the Republic of Ghana to abandon or discontinue the current recovery steps being taken to compel Alfred Woyome to disclose where his assets are and possibly how he disbursed GH?51,000,000 of OUR MONEY, so that it can be returned to Ghana,” it lamented in a strongly-worded statement yesterday.
Pressure On AG
“We have seen a ‘Notice of Discontinuance’ filed by the Attorney General on 26th October, 2016, discontinuing the present application to orally examine Woyome,” the group said, adding that “immense pressure was brought to bear on the AG to abandon the process.”
According to OccupyGhana, it had to issue a statement earlier encouraging the AG to pursue the matter because it had information that elements in the NDC government were pressurizing the AG’s Department to drop the action.
“The key concern, we learnt, had to do with Woyome being compelled to disclose how he spent our money, because the answer to that question would reveal the names of all the persons who benefitted from the money.
“What we did not believe at the time was that the very next day after our statement, the Attorney General would so easily cave in to the pressure and abandon probably the only option left to Ghana to recover OUR MONEY from Woyome.”
NDC Scared
OccupyGhana said, “It is clear to us that this government and its Attorney General are either scared of Woyome or do not have the moral courage to pursue him for our money. We cannot forget that this government deliberately bungled the civil case it reluctantly filed to claim the money from Woyome, and secretly paid the money to him at a time when that case was still pending, and when the court had allowed the government to hold on to at least two-thirds of the money.”
The pressure group said if former Attorney General Martin Amidu had not been vigilant, “Woyome might never have been compelled to refund our money.”
Farcical Process
“What we have seen, since that judgment, is probably the slowest, tardiest and most reluctant enforcement steps in the history of this nation. Ghanaians are now being told that the affluent Woyome, who took and splurged our GH?51,000,000 as if it was some pocket change, is now broke, has sold all his assets and there is nothing against which we can recover our money. This farcical and ludicrous position confirms that this government has no interest in recovering our money.”
OccupyGhana said it suspects that “any attempt to trace those monies would make some persons in this government very uncomfortable.”
The Pursuit
The group said it would be wrong for the AG to hold that that was the end of the matter since there is no pending application for it to be discontinued.
“That application has been moved and granted already. What there is now is a valid and subsisting order of the Supreme Court, which cannot be discontinued by any party. Until it is set aside or vacated by the Supreme Court itself, that order remains. We expect that on 10th November, 2016, Woyome will still show up in court. If he refuses to show up, the Supreme Court could compel his attendance.”
It added that “Woyome is a witness of the court, having been summoned on the orders of the court. Thus, even if the Attorney General refuses to attend the 10th November, 2016 proceedings to examine Woyome, the Supreme Court itself has the power to ask those relevant questions, and Woyome would be compelled to answer them and provide all the information required.”
OccupyGhana again said Mr. Amidu, who is still alive, is a party to the court action, adding, “He has every right to appear in court on 10th November and seek the permission of the court to examine Woyome, whether the Attorney General shows up or not.”
By William Yaw Owusu