Reactions from many Ghanaians on social media yesterday after the Supreme Court had ordered National Democratic Congress Financier Alfred Agbesi Woyome to pay back to the state, the sum of GH51.2 he illegally claimed and was paid by the NDC government indicate that the people do not believe the Mahama led administration will have the �balls� retrieve the money for the state.
The suspicion of the people is that the payment of the dubious judgment debt to Mr. Woyome was carefully orchestrated by the NDC government to siphon state funds for their own wellbeing.
The eleven-member Supreme Court panel, presided over by the Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, with Julius Ansah, Sophia Adinyira, Rose Owusu, Jones Dotse, Anim Yeboah, Paul Baffoe Bonnie, N.S. Gbadegbe, Vida Akoto Bamfo, A.A Bonnin and J.B. Akamba as panel members, were in their verdict that the NDC financier was not entitled to the money paid to him.
According to the court, Mr. Woyome got the money out of an invalid and unconstitutional contract in respect of the stadia construction project for which he claimed to have done some financial engineering for Government.
The court further held that the contracts upon which the NDC financier made and received the claim was in contravention of Article 181 (5) of the 1992 Constitution, which requires such contracts to be laid before, and approved by, the Legislature.
The ruling was based on a reviewed application filed by a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Martin Amidu who first went to court indicating the NDC government for using illegal means to dole out the said money to Mr. Woyome. He followed his plea by asking the court to reclaim the amount given to Mr. Woyome, Waterville and Isofoton.
<<Print>>