Amidu can cross examine Woyome, Supreme Court rules

Anti-corruption campaigner, Martin Amidu, will be allowed to question NDC financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome in court.

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday morning that the two men should face off in court in the case involving alleged fraudulent acts on the part of Mr. Woyome which led the state to make a huge payment of GHS 51m to him.

Last week, the Attorney General filed court documents indicating a suspension of government’s attempts to retrieve the monies from Mr. Woyome. That appears to have prompted Mr. Amidu to return to the Supreme Court, which had ordered the retrieval of the money, urging the court to allow him to cross-examine Mr. Woyome in court.

Mr Amidu’s decision to file a writ to cross-examine the businessman and NDC financier followed a move by the Attorney General to discontinue oral examination of Mr Woyome.

The AG’s notice read: “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.”

Martin Amidu who disagreed with the move by the Attorney General Marietta Brew Appiah Oppong wrote on his website, “I have examined the circumstances surrounding the government’s reluctance to enforce the judgment and orders of the court with the seriousness which the matter deserves. I share the view expressed by objective and reasonable members of the public that because the government was the 1st defendant/respondent against whom the Supreme Court made declarations of unconstitutional conduct in paying the judgment debt to Alfred Agbesi Woyome, the government has been pretending for purely political reasons at each turn to take steps to enforce the judgment and orders of the court only to deliberately abort them."

He added, “I agree that the government’s objective has always been to create the appearance and impression in the minds of the unsuspecting public that it is complying with the enforcement orders. The Attorney General’s latest application to discontinue the government’s application to examine its financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, is one more such trick to deceive the public and obstruct the course of justice.”

Social media is awash with comments from scores of Ghanains on the Supreme Court ruling.