The Republic can vow that the so called investigations by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) have left the real story of the Woyome affair murkier than it really is;
And as the trail about the Gh? 51 million judgment debt paid to Business-man and NDC financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome crystallizes, the facts about the ‘EOCO conspiracy’ and deliberate lies by the political architects and their collaborates begins to fall apart rendering their notes, (The EOCO Interim Report on payment of Judgment Debts Since January 7, 2009), an investigative piece of garbage.
In its Tuesday’s issue, The Republic commenced a series on the deliberate attempts by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Kwabena Dufuor, to detach himself from events and actions leading to the payment of approximately GHS51 million paid to Ghanaian businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, being Judgment debt from a consensual agreement with the Government of Ghana.
In all of his public posturing and in the stage-managed publications and representations made on his behalf, Kwabena Dufuor has sought to present himself as a Saint with no blemish at the expense of his colleague Ministers and subordinates.
Among other things, Mr. Kweku Mortey’s EOCO interim report noted that Mr. Paul Asimenu, the Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic had undermined his Minister, Mr. Kwabena Dufuor and single handedly authored and implemented many of the decisions (by correspondence with the AG’s department) which led to the eventual payment of the Ghs51 payment to Mr. Woyome .
Available documents however show that the above assertion is not only false but also a calculated attempt to absolve the Finance Ministers from roles he played in the lead up to the award and payment of the judgment debt.
The sequence of documents flowing between the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Offices of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice which clearly show that Kwabena Dufuor cannot claim to have been clueless in the matter of Alfred Woyome’s Judgment Debt payment. To make things clearer, we present a summary of the sequence below:
The claim by the EOCO interim report that “During interrogations, Mr. Asimenu admitted that the figures he quoted in his advice as the basis of the evaluation by the finance committee of the CTRB on which he served was wrong and that he misled the Hon. AG.” Was a complete fabrication by the EOCO which has since been disputed by MR. Paul Asimenu.
The EOCO report also stated copiously in reference to Mr. Paul Aimenu that, “Indeed his claims that he was authorized the Hon. Minister-MOFEP to send the opinion has been challenged by the Hon Minister (Dr. Kwabena Dufuor), whose position is supported by the fact that he queried the settlement based on the said advice when it came to his attention”
Investigations revealed that it was not until January 2012, in the wake of the EOCO flawed investigations that Dr. Dufuor actually wrote a piece of query to Mr. Asimenu in which he denied authorizing (Paul Asimenu) to write an opinion on the matter as sought by the Deputy Attorney General, Hon Ebo Botton-Oduro in a 29/3/2010 correspondence to MOFEP.
The January 2012 exchange of letters between Dr. Kwabena Dufuor and his Director of Legal Services at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr. Paul Asimenu [referenced in our earlier report on this evolving situation], are not the only pieces of evidence that point to gargantuan lying and blatant misrepresentation of facts by the Finance Minister of the Republic of Ghana. On 30th March, 2010: A letter authored by the Honorable Ebo Barton-Oduro [Deputy Attorney-General and Deputy Minister of Justice]] and dated 29th March, 2010, is received by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
This letter is stamped received by both the registry of the ministry of economic planning and also receive by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, evidence by two separate stamps applied at both the registry and the minister’s office.
In this letter, the Deputy Attorney-General, states that he is “instructed by the Attorney-General to inform you [Dr. Kwabena Dufuor] that the Attorney-General is of the opinion that the two percent of the total Project cost should be paid to Mr. Alfred Woyome and Austro Invest in accordance with the claim and agreement made between Mr. Alfred Woyome and Austro Invest dated 16th February 2010.”
The Finance Minister minuted on this letter to the Deputy Director [Legal Services] that the document be studied and that he be advised accordingly. And yet, Kwabena Dufuor claims not to have had an inkling about the Judgment Debt payment to Alfred Woyome!
12th April, 2010: The Office of the Attorney-General receives a response to their letter of advice to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. This letter, dated 12th April, 2010, is signed by none other than the Finance Minister, Dr. Kwabena Dufuor. In this letter, the Finance Minister asked for clarity with respect to the percentage of the quantum of money sourced by Alfred Woyome and Austro Invest. Indeed, the letter signed by the Finance Minister states the amount on which the percentage was to be paid as being Eur. 1,106,470, 587.00. And yet the Finance Minister claims he was not aware of any claims owing and due Mr. Alfred Woyome.
The foregoing obviously lends further credence to the belief that Dr. Kwabena Dufuor can not run away from his role and his explicit actions in the processes leading to the payment of Judgment debt to Alfred Agbesi Woyome. As the plot thickens, Dr. Kwabena Dufuor, who has been pursuing a path of sainthood in the Woyome Judgment debt saga, has clearly sought to mislead the general public and the President about his role in the whole affair.
In our next issue, we shall bring even more revelations about Dr. Kwabena Dufuor’s “infidelity” in the Alfred Woyome Judgment Debt saga and leave readers with the clear picture of Kwabena Dufuor’s Tale of Gargantuan Lies. For The Records –
Below are the Timelines in the Woyome Case
April 2009 Waterville petitions the AG for payment of compensation for breach of contract
August 2009 Alfred Woyome writes a letter to AG making claims for payment of financial engineering fees
3 Feb 2010 AG holds a roundtable conference to clarify issues ragardings the various claims. Alfred Woyome requested to submit a formal claim for compensation
18 Feb 2010 Alfred Woyome submits formal claim to AG. AG requests CSA to seek opinions of BIC Ltd, Paul Asimenu, etc.
Feb- Marc 2010 Discussions between A. Woyome, the Presidency, AG and Min, Finance regarding payment of compensation
Feb- Mar 2010 Letters written to BIC Ltd, Rex Danquah and Waterville regarding claim.
Mar 2010 Responses received from BIC Ltd, Rex Danquah. Both suggests that Alfred Woyome was instrumental in the financial engineering for the project but suggest that AG contacts the Evaluation Committee, of which Paul Asimenu was a member.
17 Mar 2010 Letter to the Min, Finance regarding the payment of compensation to A. Woyome.
25 Mar 2010 Letter from MOFEP signed by Paul Asimenu confirming entitlement of A. Woyome and affirming 2% compensation as appropriate.
29 Mar 2010 Letter from AG signed by DAG to Min, Finance to pay the 2% compensation having regard to MOFEP’s letter above.
30 Mar 2010 Min, Finance refuses to accept the letter as written on the grounds that it refers to Paul Asimenu and returns it to AG.
31 Mar 2010 AG writes another letter to Min, Finance advising the payment of 2% to A. Woyome.
12 Apr 2010 Min, Finance seeks clarification regarding the payment of 1% each to Alfred Woyome and Austro-Invest.
Apr 2010 AG responds clarifying the issue of payment to Min, Finance. Apr 2010 Min, Finance refuses to pay after initially issuing instructions to Controller to pay. A. Woyome told to go to court.
19 Apr 2010 Chief Director, MOFEP writes to AG to take up the defence.
Apr 2010 AG enters appearance and writes to MOFEP to provide it with information and documentation on the matter to enable AG file a defence. MOFEP fails to provide any reasons for non-payment.
May 2010 In the absence of defence, A Woyome gets a default judgment.
May/June 2010 AG seeks to set aside the default judgment still without any information or cooperation from MOFEP.
May/June 2010 AG invites A. Woyome and his solicitors to a meeting to try and resolve the issue of payment.
May/June 2010 Woyome and his solicitors insists that their position had changed due to the failure of Min, Finance to pay and therefore they were demanding over GH¢51 million.
May/June 2010 AG insists on paying the over GH¢41 million as earlier agreed but A Woyome and his solicitors refuse.
May/June 2010 AG refers the matter to MOFEP and urges MOFEP to negotiate with Woyome.
June 2010 MOFEP writes back to AG indicating that it had settled on the GH¢51 million.
June 2010 Solicitors of Woyome and AG agree on terms of settlement in a meeting at AG’s Office.
June 2010 Solicitors of Woyome prepare and submit Terms of Settlement to AG which is signed and filed at the High Court.
June 2010 Application by AG to set aside terms of settlement dismissed. Settlement affirmed by court and AG told to pay GH¢51 million.
July 2010 AG seeks to set aside terms of settlement by Writ.
July/Aug 2010 CSA hands over file to AG for re-assignment.
Sept/Oct 2010 CSA proceeds on annual leave until Dec 2010.
