A civil society group calling itself Citizen Ghana Movement (CGM) has petitioned the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to furnish it with the efforts the state is making to retrieve the GH¢51.2 million fraudulent judgement debt money from supposed NDC financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome.
Mr. Woyome had been ordered by the Supreme Court to pay the money back to the state after the highest court of the land had found that he was wrongfully paid the amount; and the government since last year, has said it is taking all the necessary steps to get the embattled businessman to pay the money back to the state.
Interestingly, criminal proceedings initiated by the state against Mr. Woyome over the wrongful payment collapsed in the long run when he was controversially set free by Justice John Ajet-Nasam – who himself has been implicated in the raging bribery and corruption scandal in the judiciary, as revealed by undercover journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
Mr. Woyome had been accused of illegally receiving GH¢51.2 million for his role in the construction of stadia for the CAN 2008 tournament hosted in Ghana.
CGM members said they were demanding answers as part of their right to information according to Article 21 (1) (f) of the 1992 Constitution.
The CGM specifically requested the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, to answer questions “concerning the civil matter in the Supreme Court; media reports indicates that at the last adjourned date, Alfred Agbesi Woyome had offered to pay judgment debts in installments.”
“Is this a true account of what happened in court? If yes, what were the terms of this offer?” they demanded.
The group also wanted to know whether the AG’s office had taken any steps to enforce and execute the judgment of the Supreme Court and added “if yes, what are these steps and at what stage are they?”
They wondered, “What is accounting for the failure of the state to enforce and execute the judgment?”
The group again wanted to know what happened to the appeal against Mr. Woyome’s acquittal and discharge that the AG promised to initiate saying, “concerning the criminal case at the high court, it was reported after the judgment Justice Ajet Nassam gave – acquitting Alfred Agbesi Woyome – that the Attorney General intended to appeal against the acquittal. What steps have been taken concerning the appeal? Has a notice of appeal been filed?”
“If a notice of appeal has already been filed, have there been any steps taken since its filing to settle the record of appeal? If yes, what are these steps and at what stage have they reached?” they queried.
They said they were counting on the AG to give them a reply at least in 10 working days.
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