'Disgraced' Ajet-Nasam was 'irredeemably corrupt' – Amidu

Former Attorney General, Martin Amidu, has described ex-justice John Ajet-Nasam, one of seven High Court judges caught on camera taking bribe to warp justice and later suspended by then-Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood and subsequently sacked by then-president John Mahama, as an “irredeemable corrupt” judge.

In 2015, Mr Ajet-Nasam freed Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome of any wrongdoing as far as the criminal aspect of the case regarding his receipt of a GHS51.2 million judgement debt from the state was concerned.

The businessman was facing two counts of causing financial loss to the state and defrauding by false pretence after he was accused of illegally receiving the GHS51 million in 2010 for his role in the construction of stadia for the CAN 2008 tournament held in Ghana.

But Justice Ajet-Nasam of the High Court at the time, said the prosecution failed to prove its case against the accused person.

In his ruling, the judge expressed bewilderment about why key actors in the case including former Attorney-General and her deputy, Betty Mould-Iddrisu and Ebo Barton-Odro, respectively were not invited to testify.

Mr Ajet-Nasam was later captured on video in an investigative piece by Anas Aremeyaw Anas, taking bribe in connection with a different case for which he was removed as a judge.

In his latest article on “The missing link” in the Woyome case, Mr Amidu said: “The whole country will recollect that when Woyome was being tried before the sham Court of the irredeemably corrupt High Court Justice John Ajet-Nasam, I continued to insist that it will be difficult to secure a conviction of Woyome in the case without prosecuting those who aided and facilitated the commission of the offence with which he was charged.”

“Nothing epitomises corruption in the annals of the history of this country better than the circumstances and context of the Woyome case, and its trial by an irredeemably corrupt High Court Justice.

“The Woyome criminal trial was conducted before a pertinently and irredeemably corrupt judge who did not feel shy chasing accused persons around Accra to collect bribes. This matter is recorded on video and Ghanaians who cared to watch saw now-disgraced Justice Ajet-Nasam plainly executing his endemic behaviour of taking bribes and corrupting his judgments in criminal cases.

“The manner the case was prosecuted by the Government and its lawyers clearly facilitated the verdict pronounced by the irredeemably corrupt former Justice Ajet-Nasam of the High Court, who the whole world now knows sold justice for cash and had a penchant for chasing accused persons for payment,” Mr Amidu wrote.

He said: “In any civilised system of criminal justice administration, the Woyome trial should have been vacated at the instance of the Republic because of the overwhelming evidence that now-disgraced Justice Ajet-Nasam did not have the capacity to administer impartial criminal justice by virtue of his internalised endemic corrupt nature. The disgraced former Justice did not even challenge the case of bribery and corruption so glaringly made against him on video because he was guilty to high heavens. But the Government of the day simply allowed him to disappear for corrupt services previously rendered to it.”

Read Mr Martin Amidu’s full article below

WOYOME’S SUSPECTED CRIMES AND THE MISSING LINK: BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU

On 29th November 2017 Mr. Malik Kweku Baako, the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, expressed confidence that Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome’s latest foray to the Africa Court and the consequential orders from that court to stay the execution of the judgment and orders I obtained against him at the Supreme Court to refund the over GHS51million unconstitutionally paid to him by the previous Government was just a transient irritation – he will vomit the money. I have written about the corrupt stratagem being adopted to substitute the Republic of Ghana for me as the plaintiff in the substantive case. I have raised the red flags for President Akufo-Addo and his team to be alert to the dangers ahead and the ultimate plans of Woyome and his mentors waiting in the wings for a possible positive outcome at the Africa Court.

Mr. Kweku Baako is reported to have raised the very important issue of “the missing link…the people involved in the payment of the GHS51.2 million judgment debt.” He is reported on GhanaWeb of 29th November 2017 to have queried: “Those political functionaries, ministers, deputy ministers and party top shots who facilitated that payment, we haven’t yet looked at them. A thorough investigation into the conduct of these people should be initiated…how did they sit for one person to swindle them and the entire nation.” Mr. Baako is further reported to have expressed his incomprehension of how public officials allowed this to slip by and why until now, nothing has been done to them.

The whole country will recollect that when Woyome was being tried before the sham Court of the irredeemably corrupt High Court Justice John Ajet-Nasam, I continued to insist that it will be difficult to secure a conviction of Woyome in the case without prosecuting those who aided and facilitated the commission of the offence with which he was charged. The New Patriotic Party, both in and outside parliament, shared the same sentiments as did Mr. Kweku Baako throughout the trial.

Nothing epitomises corruption in the annals of the history of this country better than the circumstances and context of the Woyome case, and its trial by an irredeemably corrupt High Court Justice. Accordingly, one understood the promise by President Nana Akufo-Addo and his party to fight corruption to include dealing with the residual matters relating to what Mr. Kweku Baako now calls “the missing link.”

No reasonable person expects President Nana Akufo-Addo to personally investigate and deal with suspects in fulfillment of his promises of fighting corruption and dealing with past corruption which substantially contributed to earning him the Presidency. This is a function of his appointees to whom he has assigned ministerial responsibility for security and intelligence, law and order, and particularly justice.

The change of Government brought about by the electorate who demonstrated their hatred for corruption in the body politic offered the chances for the new Government to reopen the case and find the real facts, which the previous Government suppressed because it was itself complicit in the commission of the suspected crimes. Eleven months down the line, nothing has been done or is being done to the knowledge of the public to redeem the President’s promise on this outstanding matter.

One of the problems faced by some of the appointees of the present Government is the ability to go beyond the biased advice being proffered to them by the senior public officers they inherited from the previous Government. A conscientious and knowledgeable Minister should be able, within the first three months in office, to know how many of his officers were recently promoted by the outgoing Government and their role in cover-ups in the Ministry. The inability of any Minister to understand the composition and promotional history of his senior public servants upon whom he depends for advice within the first three to six months means that he may be working with moles planted before the demise of the previous Government.

A simple analysis of the staff list in any Ministry including transfers within a period will easily give any Minister a bird’s eye view of how very junior staff wormed their way into acting senior positions above their very senior and competent colleagues and were later promoted in the election year, just in case the ballot was lost. This may provide an opening into the dependability and professionalism of some senior public servants in calling the Government’s attention to residual issues needing urgent redress.

The Woyome criminal trial was conducted before a pertinently and irredeemably corrupt judge who did not feel shy chasing accused persons around Accra to collect bribes. This matter is recorded on video and Ghanaians who cared to watch saw now-disgraced Justice Ajet-Nasam plainly executing his endemic behaviour of taking bribes and corrupting his judgments in criminal cases.

The manner the case was prosecuted by the Government and its lawyers clearly facilitated the verdict pronounced by the irredeemably corrupt former Justice Ajet-Nasam of the High Court, who the whole world now knows sold justice for cash and had a penchant for chasing accused persons for payment.

In any civilised system of criminal justice administration, the Woyome trial should have been vacated at the instance of the Republic because of the overwhelming evidence that now-disgraced Justice Ajet-Nasam did not have the capacity to administer impartial criminal justice by virtue of his internalised endemic corrupt nature. The disgraced former Justice did not even challenge the case of bribery and corruption so glaringly made against him on video because he was guilty to high heavens. But the Government of the day simply allowed him to disappear for corrupt services previously rendered to it.

But the same law officers who deliberately chose to prosecute Woyome without his co-suspects knowing very well that they were likely to lose the case as a result, are still those in position to compromise the execution of the President’s promise of fighting corruption. Furthermore, the same senior law officers who thwarted the execution of the judgment and engaged in various spurious agreements with him while their more senior court-going colleagues were in the Supreme Court trying to execute the judgment, are still those in position to advise the present Government on outstanding matters related to the case.

As a result of lack of progress in the execution of the Woyome judgment I obtained in the Supreme Court and my concerns about how the residual criminal matters were not being handled by the present Government, I wrote a letter dated 5th October 2017 to the Attorney General and copied the Chief of Staff at the Presidency on the execution of the Supreme Court Judgment. Nobody bothered to formally acknowledge even the receipt of my letter from the Attorney General’s Office.

I observed in that letter that:

There are other aspects of this Woyome case which your Government, if it is really bent on fighting corruption, could pursue in addition to the judgment and order under reference. Unfortunately you have the misfortune of working with some officers who have earned their mid-night promotions protecting the looting and covering up of the activities of the previous Government. They have no interest in pointing out residual matters in this case to your Government unless your Government has a personal commitment, the energy and industry to fish out those matters by yourselves.

I wish H. E. the President and you God’s guidance in all your genuine efforts to protect the national purse from looters of all kinds and hues holding various political party cards as an insurance against crime.”

I was talking about Mr. Kweku Baako’s “the missing link” and why it might not be receiving the attention of the Government as promised by the President. Mr. Kweku Baako and I have been talking about this missing link for years and this is the only Government that can deal with it if, indeed, it has a commitment to fight corruption. Thank you, Mr. Kweku Baako, for not allowing the matter of “the missing link” in the Woyome criminal saga to die a natural death for lack of any public voice to remind the Government of its compact with the electorate on 7th December 2016.

Mr. President, remember that the buck on fighting corruption stops with you whether it succeeds or fails.

Martin A. B. K. Amidu

4th December 2017