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| • Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice |
A former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty
Mould-Iddrisu, and three others have been dragged to the Financial
Division of the High Court for negligence resulting in the loss of
GHc51.2 million to the state.
According to a former National Youth Organiser of the Convention
Peoples Party (CPP), Mr James Kwabena Bomfeh, also known as Kabila, the
inaction of Mrs Mould-Iddrisu and the three others resulted in the
payment of GH¢51.2 million to businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome.
Those attached to the suit are a Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Ebo Barton Odro; a chief state attorney, Mr Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh, and a legal adviser at the Ministry of finance
and Economic Planning (MOFEP), Mr Paul Asimenu.
The plaintiff is further asking the court to declare that “on a true and proper interpretation of the Government Contracts (Protection) Decree, 1979, (AFRCD 58) and the Protection of Public Property Decree SMCD 140 to prevent waste and protect public property, the defendants are jointly and severally liable for the refund of all monies that have been wasted owing to the payment they caused to be made by the government of Ghana to Woyome”.
Mr Bomfeh is also seeking “an order for payment of monies that have been wasted by the defendants due to payment they caused to be made by the government of Ghana to Woyome”.
An additional relief being sought by Mr Bomfeh is an order from the court to the defendants to pay interest on the amount “from the date of the illegal payment till date of final payment”.
He was charged with two counts of causing financial loss to the state and defrauding by false pretence but was acquitted and discharged on March 12, 2015.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s Department has filed a notice of appeal to contest Woyome’s acquittal.
Woyome has also informed the Supreme Court he will refund the money by the end of the year. The Supreme Court on July 29, 2014 ordered him to refund all moneys paid to him because there was no legal contract to warrant the payment to him.
Those attached to the suit are a Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Ebo Barton Odro; a chief state attorney, Mr Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh, and a legal adviser at the Ministry of finance
and Economic Planning (MOFEP), Mr Paul Asimenu.Reliefs of the Plaintiff
A writ of summons signed on behalf of the plaintiff by his lawyer, Mr Christopher Amanortey Akwesi, is praying the court to slap the defendants with damages for conspiracy, malfeasance and negligence.The plaintiff is further asking the court to declare that “on a true and proper interpretation of the Government Contracts (Protection) Decree, 1979, (AFRCD 58) and the Protection of Public Property Decree SMCD 140 to prevent waste and protect public property, the defendants are jointly and severally liable for the refund of all monies that have been wasted owing to the payment they caused to be made by the government of Ghana to Woyome”.
Mr Bomfeh is also seeking “an order for payment of monies that have been wasted by the defendants due to payment they caused to be made by the government of Ghana to Woyome”.
An additional relief being sought by Mr Bomfeh is an order from the court to the defendants to pay interest on the amount “from the date of the illegal payment till date of final payment”.
Background
Woyome was paid GH¢51.2 million as judgement debt in 2010 for engaging in financial engineering for the state ahead of CAN 2008.He was charged with two counts of causing financial loss to the state and defrauding by false pretence but was acquitted and discharged on March 12, 2015.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s Department has filed a notice of appeal to contest Woyome’s acquittal.
Woyome has also informed the Supreme Court he will refund the money by the end of the year. The Supreme Court on July 29, 2014 ordered him to refund all moneys paid to him because there was no legal contract to warrant the payment to him.
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