The patriotic and “justice-loving” Ghanaians shrilled and thrilled when the Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Alfred Benin, ordered a few years ago that some identified properties of the litigious businessman, Alfred Woyome, be sold towards the payment of the dubious 51 million Ghana Cedis judgment debt paid to him in 2010 by the erstwhile NDC government.
In fact, I was shocked to the bone when a panel member alleged on Thursday 27th June 2019 edition of Oman FM’s ‘Boiling Point’ political show that NDC and a number of apologists were beneficiaries of Woyome’s dubious GH51.2 million judgment debt payment.
Perhaps, this chilling allegation may explain why back then a host of NDC communicators defended, and continue to defend the wrongful judgment debt payment to the hilt in spite of the fact that Woyome once admitted on Kwame Sefa Kayi’s Kokrokoo show that he had no contract with the government of Ghana.
Indeed, JSC Dotse could not have put it any better, “it was an illustrative case of creating loot and share.”
Sometime in 2010, it was reported that the late Mills warned some officials in his government not to effect payment to Woyome. And yet the conspiratorial plotters defied the good old Mills orders and doled out a staggering amount of GH¢51.2 million to Wayome, who had no contract with the government of Ghana.
Subsequently, in July 2014, the Supreme Court of Ghana ordered Businessman Mr Alfred Woyome to pay back to the state GH¢51.2 million dubious judgment debt paid him between 2009 and 2010 (during Mills/Mahama administration).
It must, therefore, be emphasized that the Supreme Court’s ruling was as a result of a review of the court’s earlier decision sought by former Attorney General and the outgone Special Prosecutor, Mr Martin Amidu, who maintained that Woyome, like international firms, Waterville and Isofoton, had no valid contract to be paid any amount by the state in judgment debt.
The Supreme Court accordingly ruled that Isofoton S.A., and Waterville Holdings BVI, must also refund the dubious judgment debt payments made to them by the erstwhile NDC administration.
According to the highest Court of the land, the Waterville Holdings BVI, which was allegedly involved in the construction of some stadia in Ghana ahead of the hosting of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, was wrongfully paid €25 million and must refund the money.
While the Court ordered Isofoton S.A. to refund US$325,472 it received as judgment debt from the Mills/Mahama government.
Unfortunately, however, none of those monies was retrieved by the erstwhile NDC government, in spite of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Given their calamitous errors in judgment which obviously caused their humiliating defeats in the 2016 and 2020 general elections, it is indeed baffling that the ever so litigious, albeit non-performing NDC apparatchiks have been vigorously bulldozing their way through in a desperate attempt to convince their aggrieved supporters of their consuming desire to recapture power in 2024.
With all due respect with no attached condescension whatsoever, it would appear that the NDC stalwarts are living in a denial. They have indeed lost touch with reality.
Ironically, it would appear that it was only NDC founder and former president, the late J. J. Rawlings, who was well-aware of the enormity of the problems that may confront his beloved party in any future elections. He was thus rightly refused to live in a denial.
The late President Rawlings thus admitted: “Most people are yet to recover from the traumatic shock of the December 7th election results. “But I will have to state that if we turn our backs to our history us a party, we cannot escape the responsibility for the result”.
“I kept providing the warning whenever and wherever I could, and in public as well. “But no, once again the uncouth and uncultured in our party and government chose to insult and disrespect some of us” (Rawlings, 2016).
But despite the admissible evidence of rampant corruption and hopeless incompetence, the General Secretary of the party, Asiedu Nketia and his cohorts have been holding on to a phantom belief that they lost the 2016 and 2020 elections because either their aggrieved supporters failed to go to the polls or were robbed of the victory by the Electoral Commission. How ironic?
Contrary to the NDC apparatchiks disagreements and disappointments amid numerous excuses over the 2016 election results, the founder of the NDC and former president, the late J. J. Rawlings would rather prefer to blame the leadership for their unobjectionable incompetence, corruption and shenanigans.
Let us face it, Ghana’s economy was in such a state because a large portion of the country’s resources went down the drain through the irreversible mismanagement and the wanton sleazes and corruption committed by the officials of the erstwhile NDC administration.
In fact, the erstwhile NDC government even managed to allocate judgment debt amount in the national budget (reported to be around GH800 million).
We cannot also obliterate from memory the scandalous corruption cases involving GYEEDA, AZONTABA, SADA, SUBAH, the purported $300million debt incurred on the faded STS housing deal, the dubious Embraer 190 Aircraft and hanger for the Ghana Armed Forces and over a US$100 million oil revenue loss between 2011 and 2013 as reported by the Public Interest& Accountability Committee.
It is, indeed, heartrending to recount how Ghana’s economy sunk deeper and deeper into the mire under President Mahama’s leadership.
k.badu2011@gmail.com
By Kwaku Badu, UK