Deputy Communications Director of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Anthony Karbo has said only a change in government will ensure that self acclaimed financier of the ruling party (NDC), Alfred Agbesi Woyome refunds the GH¢51.2 million judgment he illegally received from the state.
According to him, has come to this conclusion due to the cold feet attitude being displayed by the Mahama led administration in pursuing and retrieving this huge amount of money back to state chest.
The Supreme Court, on July 29, 2014, ordered Woyome to refund GH¢51.2 million to the state on the grounds that he got the money out of unconstitutional and invalid contracts between the state and Waterville Holdings Limited in 2006 for the construction of stadia for CAN 2008.
Woyome has gone to the International Court of Arbitration to contest the court’s decision.
He served notice after reneging on his promise to the Supreme Court to pay the money by the end of December 2015.
On March 1, 2016, Woyome prayed the court to give him three years to pay back the money but the court declined to grant his wish.
The court had in the 2014 review decision, held that the contracts upon which Woyome made and received the claim were in contravention of Article 181 (5) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which requires such contracts to be laid before and approved by Parliament.
The 11-member court, presided over by the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, was ruling on a review application filed by a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Martin Amidu, who brought the initial action praying the court to order Woyome to pay the money.
However speaking on TV 3 Newspaper review programme Saturday, Anthony Karbo who is also a Parliamentary candidate for Lawra constituency said the lethargic of government to the case was very worrying.
“If a private entity like UT Bank without the police, EOCO, BNI, has absolutely no coercive force, but is able to secure Woyome’s properties because he owes the bank, the state, the President with all the state machinery at his disposal till date, we cannot get GH¢51.2 million Woyome took from us. It’s almost as if we are in a banana republic this cannot happen anywhere. People high up in government are developing cold feet on this matter; it will only take a change in government for Woyome to sink”.
He added: “We have to continuously publicly tout Woyome until he refunds our money, let’s taunt him like it was done to the South African President, they taunted him until they got the judgment they needed because that money can build some many schools and other developmental infrastructure”.
