Tuesday,
July 29, 2014
Folks, the long-drawn-out case
involving the judgement debt paid to Alfred Agbesi Woyome is over; and Woyome
is the loser. He should have known all along that what he received was
fraudulently given him because of the loopholes in our system that unscrupulous
public officials teamed up with him to exploit. The news is simple:The Supreme Court has ordered
business man Alfred Woyome to refund a total of 51.2 million Ghana Cedis judgement debt
payment he received between 2009 and 2010. Judges at the highest court ruled
the National Democratic Congress financier had no valid contract to be paid
that amount of money.
The ruling follows a review of
the court's own earlier decision sought by former Attorney General Martin Amidu
who insisted that Woyome, like Waterville and Isofoton, had no valid contract
to be paid any amount by the state in judgement debt.
The Supreme Court few months ago
ruled in favour of Amidu and directed Isofoton and Waterville to pay back
monies paid them in judgement debt. It said the contracts which formed the
basis for the claims by the two companies did not exist in law for want of
Parliamentary ratification as required by law. It however refused to make a
ruling on the Woyome matter because the matter was pending at the High Court.
Not satisfied with the ruling of
the court, the citizen vigilante, as he would describe himself, went back to
the Court asking it to review its own decision on Woyome and the Attorney
General whom he joined to the suit against Waterville and Isofoton.
(Source:
http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2014/July-29th/amidu-wins-case-as-supreme-court-orders-woyome-to-refund-51m.php)
MY COMMENTS
Congratulations to Martin Amidu
for this feat. It’s laudable that a citizen vigilante could single-handedly
bring this case to this point for Ghana’s good which a whole government with
all the resources at its disposal couldn’t, apparently because of what its own
functionaries did to enable the commission of this crime.
The matter must not end with
Woyome's refunding of the illegal judgement debt money. He should be taken
through the whole hog of prosecution for criminally pocketing what he didn't
deserve. I am calling for the trial and punishment of Woyome for swindling the
state.
In addition, Woyome should be
banned from doing anything as far as public funds are concerned. A private
businessman who colludes with government officials to loot the national coffers
must be banned for life. He shouldn’t be given any room to do anything
associated with the national coffers.
All public officials (at the
Ministries of Finance, Justice and Attorney-General's Department, especially)
who colluded with him should also be fished out and dealt with. Not until these
errant officials are punished and the loopholes plugged, we shouldn't expect
this judgement debt nonsense to end anytime soon.
Some skeptics may wonder whether
the very officials and their lackeys in the system who facilitated this fraud
will be willing to prosecute Woyome. I say that's a big question. They won't do
it unless pressure is brought down to bear heavily on them. Someone must be
bold enough to initiate the process and we will jump on board to ensure that
Woyome and his backers are dealt with. Too much dishonesty and criminal
conspiracy in public office have done too much harm to our country and its
citizens. The Supreme Court’s verdict should encourage us to take on these
elements.
I shall return…
·
E-mail:
mjbokor@yahoo.com
- Join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor to continue the conversation.
No comments:
Post a Comment