Having made all other possible attempts to get himself acquitted of the unfavourable court rulings in Ghana, Woyome petitions ICC as his last and final hope for exoneration…
Popular Ghanaian bussinessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome has petitioned the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), to arbitrate in the controversial GHc51.2 million judgement debt case.
The petition which is titled ‘Alfred Agbesi Woyome (Ghana) vs/ REPUBLIC OF GHANA (Ghana)’ with reference number 22679/TO was addressed to Benjamin G. Chew, Andrew Zimmitti and Rory E. Adams of MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP with address number 1050 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036 U. S.A.
A correspondence from the court dated March 21, 2017 to the counsel of Mr. Woyome based in the United States of America stated:
The Secretariat of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (“Secretariat”) acknowledges receipt of your Request for Arbitration (“Request”) dated 17 March 2017. Your Request was received on 20 March 2017. Pursuant to Article 4(2) of the ICC Rules of Arbitration in force as from 1 March 2017 (“Rules”), this arbitration commenced on that date.
The court also acknowledged receipt of an undisclosed cheque for the non-refundable filing fee from MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP.
Please confirm by email to [email protected] that this entity is entitled to make payments on behalf of Claimant(s) within 5 days from the day following the receipt of this correspondence”; adding: “Please be informed that should the confirmation not be considered as satisfactory by the bank pursuant to its legal obligations under French law, the payment received by ICC may be cancelled and the lack of relevant information reported to the relevant authorities.
Below are copies of the correspondences between Woyome and the ICC.
Alfred Woyome was paid GH¢51.2 million in 2006, after he claimed that he helped Ghana to raise funds to construct stadia for purposes of hosting the CAN 2008 Nations Cup. However in 2010, Martin Amidu, the then Auditor General released a report in which he claimed that the amount was paid illegally to Woyome. Amidu then had the NDC financier arrested and charged for causing financial loss to the state.
Although the Appeal Court in 2015 discharged and acquitted Woyme after clearing him of the criminal charges, the government have been after him, demanding through legal actions that he refunds the money in question. The case which has lingered for over 7 years now, finally saw the businessman promise to pay the GHc51.2 million in installment after the last ruling by the Supreme Court in 2016.
The Supreme Court in its ruling, had stated that the contract between Ghana and Waterville Holdings Limited under which Mr Woyome received the money was invalid, thereby causing financial loss to the state. However, Mr. Woyome who has been insisting that he legally obtained the judgement debt and that the state is being unfair to him, now appears to have gone back on his words as he has refused to make further payments after the first GH¢4 million refund.
Having probably made all other possible attempts to get himself acquitted of the unfavourable court rulings in his home country, Woyome petitions ICC as his last and final hope for exoneration.
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