The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), has mounted pressure on the Mahama-led administration to as a matter of urgency retrieve the controversial GHc51 million judgment debt paid to businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome.
According to the party, it will hit the streets with Ghanaians if government fails to do so.
“The NPP cannot let this corruption and wanton loss of taxpayers’ monies just go by. We demand that President Mahama and his government retrieve the full value of our monies otherwise the party intends to lead Ghanaians in street protests,” a statement signed by NPP’s Director of Communications, Nana Akomea said.
The party’s threat follows a move by the Attorney General to discontinue an oral examination of Mr. Woyome at the Supreme Court. A notice of discontinuance dated October 26, 2016 from the Attorney General stated that “please take notice that the 1st Defendant Judgment Creditor [Attorney General] herein has this day [26th Day of October 2016] discontinued the present application to orally examine the 3rd Defendant Judgment Debtor [Alfred Agesi Woyome] with liberty to reapply.”
However, the NPP said it is saddened by the latest action by the Attorney General. “The NPP is horrified and saddened by the report that the Attorney General is not able to pursue anymore the retrieval of taxpayers monies paid to Mr. Alfred Woyome, as far back as 2010. The NDC government itself as far back as 2009 has admitted the payments to Mr. Woyome were wrong, unjustified and undeserved.
But no NDC official involved in this gargantuan loss of taxpayer’s monies has been punished or prosecuted,” the statement added.
OccupyGhana accuses AG of protecting Woyome’s accomplices
Pressure Group OccupyGhana had also accused the Attorney General of discontinuing the case in order to protect Mr. Woyome’s accomplices.
According to OccupyGhana they are aware that some of the questions the AG might ask Woyome would have revealed some of the person who benefited from the money.
“The key concern, we learnt, had to do with Woyome being compelled to disclose how he spent our money, because the answer to that question would reveal the names of all the persons who benefitted from our money.
What we did not believe at the time was that on the very next day after our statement, the Attorney-General would so easily cave in to the pressure and abandon probably the only option left to Ghana to recover our money from Woyome,” the group said in statement.
Below is the full statement from the NPP
PRESIDENT MAHAMA AND NDC MUST ACCOUNT FOR OUR WOYOME MONIES OR BE SHOWN THE RED CARD
The NPP is horrified and saddened by the report that the Attorney General is not able to pursue anymore the retrieval of taxpayers monies paid to Mr. Alfred Woyome, as far back as 2010. The NDC government itself as far back as 2009 has admitted the payments to Mr. Woyome were wrong, unjustified and undeserved. But no NDC official involved in this gargantuan loss of taxpayer’s monies has been punished or prosecuted.
Per the solo efforts of Mr. Martin Amidu, the Supreme Court in 2014 ordered that the monies should be retrieved, describing the payment as a scheme to create, loot and share taxpayers’ monies. President Mahama and his government did not seek an order for payment with interest despite the Supreme Court ruling. Despite this, two years after the order for even the greatly devalued ghc52.8 million, president mahama has not managed to retrieve even a PESEWAS of taxpayers’ monies from Mr Woyome.
What little hope Ghanaians have that our monies will be retrieved has been dashed by the withdrawal of the Attorney General from further pursuit of the retrieval of the monies. The NPP cannot let this corruption and wanton loss of taxpayers monies just go by.
We demand that President Mahama and his government retrieve the full value of our monies otherwise the party intends to lead Ghanaians in street protests Create, loot and share cannot be rewarded President Mahama must account for our monies or be shown the red card.
NANA AKOMEA
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
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