African Human Rights Court's decision on Woyome case suspicious - Deputy A-G

Deputy Attorney General, Joseph Dindiok Kpemka says the African Human Rights Court’s order for Ghana to suspend all efforts to retrieve the GH¢51.2 million judgement debt paid to businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome is suspicious.

According to him, the court took the decision in the presence of the applicant without the knowledge of the defendant.

“I am suspicious about all the happenings,” he said on 'Newsfile' Saturday.

Joseph Kpemka noted that “the court sat and in the sitting of the court, the applicant was represented. If ‘suo motu’ and without both parties, the court had come to that determination it’s a different thing but they had come to a determination in the presence of the applicant and in the absence of the defendant”.

He insisted that the Attorney General’s Department was not served a notice of the sitting as they wouldn’t have missed it adding that the fact that the decision was made on the eve of the Supreme Court’s decision made it very suspicious.

The African Court on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) in Tanzania, in a unanimous ruling on November 24, 2017 ordered Ghana to suspend the seizure of any property belonging to businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome.

The court ordered Ghana to suspend all efforts to retrieve the GH¢51.2 million judgement debt paid to the businessman until the court determined an appeal he filed to the court arguing that his human rights are being abused by Ghana’s Supreme Court.

Alfred Agbesi Woyome proceeded to the African Human Rights Court in August 2017, when government began a valuation of his properties in an attempt to retrieve Gh¢51 million wrongfully paid to him in a judgement debt.

The Court in a decision by an eleven-member panel said it will be unfair for the state to be allowed to auction Woyome’s properties, since the court could rule in his favour.

The Supreme Court, however, rejected the order when it was presented by the lawyers for the businessman.

Deputy Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame opposed the application saying the Treaty setting up the African Court even though has been ratified by Ghana's Parliament, it has not been incorporated into Ghana's laws.

Delivering the decision of the 5-member Panel, Justice Anin Yeboah said the businessman had failed to show any factual or legal basis for the court to hold on with its ruling.

The panel also unanimously dismissed the other application asking that all processes in relation to retrieval of the money be put on hold.