Private legal practitioner, Ace Kojo Anan Ankomah, has asserted that ‘we will collect our money from Woyome’ even if government refuses to retrieve it from the self-styled financier of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“We can definitely collect the money…unless government is not willing to collect it; even that we will collect some of it,” he said.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome to refund the GHC 51 million paid him as judgment debt by the state.
This was after the court granted all the reliefs sought by former Attorney General (AG) and Minister for Justice, Martin Amidu who sued Alfred Woyome in his personal capacity.
The Supreme Court had, on June 14, 2013, directed the international construction firm, Waterville Holdings Limited (BVI), to refund all the money paid to it by the Ghana government on the premise that it had no valid and constitutional contractual agreement with the government.
Waterville is expected to refund 25 million euros it received from the government, following the court’s unanimous judgement that the said contract it entered into with the government for stadia construction for CAN 2008 was unconstitutional.
That was because it had contravened Article 181 (5) of the 1992 Constitution which required such contracts to go to Parliament for approval.
Mr Amidu had, in the original suit, prayed the court to order Woyome to refund the money he had received as a result of the void contract the government had entered into with Waterville Holdings.
But the court declined jurisdiction over the issue with the reason that the Attorney-General was currently pursuing the matter at the Commercial Court to retrieve the money.
However the applicant, who filed the application for review on July 12, 2013, believed he had read the two judgements delivered by the Supreme Court very carefully, and had come to the conclusion that some aspects of the judgement contained “exceptional circumstances that have resulted in what we perceive may constitute miscarriage of justice”.
He said the 1992 Constitution imposed both rights and obligations, particularly under articles 2 and 3, on every Ghanaian citizen to ensure that the constitutional order established by the Constitution was not threatened or by an unlawful means abrogated.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court fixed Tuesday, July 29 for a ruling which seems to have been greeted with delight by most Ghanaians.
Some are even calling for Mr Woyome to refund the monies plus interest.
Even though government has also welcomed the ruling, one wonders if the Mahama-led administration will be able to collect the retrieve the over GHC 51m from Mr Woyome.
Speaking to the issue on Peace FM‘s “Kokrokoo” Morning Show, Ace Ankomah told Kwami Sefa Kayi that even if Woyome does not have the money to pay; his ‘movable’ assets might be confiscated.
“As for the money we will collect it…it will be so easy to collect our money. Definitely he has assets and bank accounts. His movable assets can be sold and those in the bank retrieved per a court order. If we are serious, we can definitely collect the money…unless government is not willing to collect it but even that we will collect some of it,” he asserted.