A member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) legal team, Abraham Amaliba, has expressed disappointment that government officials who overturned an order not to pay GH¢51.2m judgement debt to businessman Alfred Woyome were kept at post.
Although he claimed ignorance regarding the ability of the state to bring criminal charges against the government officials in their various roles in the payment of the controversial judgement debt, he is certain “those officers should have been fired at the time”.
The NDC lawyer was speaking on Newsfile, Joy FM’s news analysis programme, Saturday.
The Supreme Court this week ordered Mr. Woyome to refund a total of GHȻ51.2 million paid to him in 2009 and 2010 as judgement debt.
According to the judges at the highest court of the land, Mr. Woyome, a National Democratic Congress financier, had no valid contract to be paid that amount of money.
The ruling followed a review of the court’s own earlier decision sought by former Attorney General Martin Amidu who insisted that Woyome, like Waterville and Isofoton, had no valid contract to be paid any amount by the state in judgement debt.
After the ruling, there have been calls for the prosecution of government officials who failed to do due diligence in the payment of the judgement debt.
Member of Parliament for Assin North Kennedy Agyapong was the first to call for the arrest of Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu, who was Attorney-General at the time, for overturning interventions by late President John Evans Atta Mills, by proceeding to approve payment of GH¢51.2 million judgment debt to Mr. Alfred Woyome.
Then MP for Ablekuma West Constituency, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, and the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) joined in to demand criminal prosecution of government officials involved in the payment of the money which the Supreme Court recently declared fraudulent.
According to backers of legal action against officers who facilitated the fraudulent payment, the move is even more critical in light of an Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) interim report in that revealed President Mills had made two interventions to stop payment of the judgement debt.
However, on Newsfile, August 2, 2014, the argument raged on as panelists gave their takes on whether criminal prosecution should be brought on government officials who facilitated the payment of the judgement debt.
New Crusading Guide newspaper Editor-in-Chief, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako said it was reckless on the part of government officials in the whole matter.
He said legal prosecution of the “reputable” state lawyers is inevitable because there are clear signs of “recklessness” and “willfulness” in the payment of the judgement.
Click on attached audio to listen to that section of the discussion:
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | George Nyavor | [email protected]
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