The Executive Director of the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), Mr Biadella Mortey Akpadzi, on Thursday said Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome, a businessman has no basis for going to court over issues relating to investigations into the payment of judgment debt.
Mr Akpadzi said: "We believe every Ghanaian has the right to seek redress in court. But by the facts so far, we believe Mr Woyome has no basis for that writ," Mr Akpadzi.
Mr Akpadzi was speaking to journalists moments after he presented an Interim Report on investigations into the payment of judgment debt, which was ordered by President John Evans Atta Mills last December.
Mr Woyome, former Austria Consul had been in court, seeking to halt EOCO's handling of investigations into the controversial GHc58 million Ghana, paid to him by the State.
His lawyers on Tuesday had filed two writs - first, questioning the mandate of the EOCO to investigate the matter.
Their case was that EOCO cannot investigate the judgment of a court, and consequently seeking an injunction to stop EOCO from continuing with the investigations.
Counsels for Woyome are also challenging EOCO's action to freeze Mr. Woyome's bank accounts.
Mr. Akpadzi said but for the intervention of the President �things would have been worse.
According to Mr Akpadzi, the facts showed that President Mills ordered the Ministry of Finance not to pay Mr Woyome, initially when the issue came up, but Mr Woyeome went to court.
President Mills then ordered the Minister of Justice and Attorney General to seek an order to put an injunction on the case, but the order was violated on both occasions.
Mr Akpadzi indicated that the EOCO consulted all the relevant documents and arrived at the conclusion there were elements of non- performance on the part of some officials, past and present, who should have done better than what they did.
Without giving names of which officials were involved, Mr Akpadzi said what was started by past officials, was aggravated by current officials, by what was now being called the Woyome case.
"We realised quite some element of non-performance, for want of a better word, on the part of officials who should have done better than they did and but for the intervention of His Excellency the President, we believe things could have even been worse," he said.
"Which officials?" he was asked, to which he responded, "the whole matter as you have seen started with actions by past officials and it was further aggravated by current officials and all led to what is now being called 'the Woyome case."
It is the belief EOCO, Mr Akapdzi inisisted, that Woyome had no basis for making the claims which accorded him the GHc58 million judgement debt.
Receiving the report, president Mills thanked EOCO for a good job, but expressed misgivings why some people had declined to appear before the EOCO.
Apparently referring to some public office holders in the former Administration of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), President Mills further questioned such people if they really believed in democracy and the search for the truth by their refusal to appear before the EOCO.
"Many of us talk about democracy, we talk about respect for rights and I believe, therefore, that our actions should show that we are indeed interested in democracy and also the search for the truth," he said.
President Mills asked the EOCO to make copies of the report available to the public.
The A-G, Dr Kunbuor assured President Mills the report will be used to augment the AG Department's writ against Mr Woyome in court.
It would be recalled that President Mills ordered EOCO to investigate the payments after the issue assumed a national debate.
In the wake of the controversy over the payment of judgement debt, a serving Attorney-General, Mr Martin Amidu was relieved of his position, for what Mr Henry Martey-Newman described as "misconduct," at a meeting with the President over the Woyome issue.
Mrs Betty-Mould Iddrisu former Education Minister, and also former Attorney-General before going to the Education portfolio, also resigned her post to allow investigations into the matter.
President Mills received a lot of criticisms from the opposition who insisted that his claim that he did not order the payments was unconvincing, especially when he said Ghanaians must know who caused the liability.
The raging discussions received fuel when dismissed Attorney-General Martin Amidu, responding to attacks by progovernment newspapers accused a colleague minister of seeking to cover up gargantuan crimes against the people of Ghana.
Mr Amidu filed an amendment to a writ, arguing Woyome had no contract with the government of Ghana and that he procured the favourable consent judgement through fraudulent misrepresentations.
Mr Amidu was subsequently dismissed for what the Presidency said was misconduct.
Communications Director at the Presidency Koku Anyidoho said Mr Amidu was sacked because he failed to substantiate his allegations of attempts to cover up gargantuan crimes.
Source: GNA
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