Woyome Squandered 500,000 Euros Meant For Rawlings

Businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome has been in the news quite lately for all the wrong reasons. Indeed, hardly does a day pass by without the NDC financier being the subject of an article in a newspaper, or his name cropping up in a radio and or television discussion regarding the controversial GH¢58 million paid to him as judgement debt.

And even before the dust settles on that issue, the onetime Vice Honorary Consul to the Austrian Embassy in Ghana’s name is embroiled in another scandal.

Alfred Woyome stands accused of defrauding under false pretenses; for using the office of ex-president Rawlings to solicit for funds.

Spokesperson for the former president, Kofi Adams, confirmed the news on PeaceFM.

Speaking on the station’s flagship programme, “Kokrokoo”, Kofi Adams disclosed that the embattled NDC guru allegedly solicited for funds in the name of Mr Rawlings without his knowledge and yet, failed to account for the monies he received.

According to him, the Austrian Consulate reportedly gave an amount of €500,000 as a donation to the Rawlingses through Mr Woyome when their Ridge residence was gutted by a raging fire two years ago. This was after the NDC financier had told them (Austrians) that he was soliciting for funds on behalf of the former First Family in light of the tragic incident to alleviate their suffering.

The money, however, never got to its intended recipient; Mr Rawlings.

It would be recalled that former president Rawlings’ residence at Ridge was razed by fire on Sunday, February 14, 2010.

The entire house, according to reports, was burnt completely and nothing whatsoever was salvaged from the house.

Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Rawlings and one of her daughters, Yaa Asantewaa, who were in the house, escaped unhurt.

Kofi Adams recounted that the ex-president was unaware of the €500,000 “donation” until an NDC activist visited the Consul for some discussions when the issue came up.

“A certain party member went to the Austrian consulate to have a discussion with the ambassador and the issue of Woyome receiving an amount of €500,000 on behalf of the Rawlingses came up…that was the first time we got to know that he had been given a donation meant for Mr Rawlings in connection with his gutted Ridge residence, but my boss never received a penny from Woyome. I later followed up on the story and the Consul confirmed it to me…It is never true he gave money to Mr Rawlings, that is a lie,” he asserted.

The NDC deputy General Secretary also disclosed that the two (Mr Rawlings and Alfred Woyome) are not the best of friends and stated quite bluntly that even the ex-president does not want to see the NDC financier anywhere close by.

“Woyome and Mr Rawlings are not on good terms….i recall that sometime ago a delegation from the Volta Region came to have a discussion with him (Rawlings) and he told me to make sure Woyome was not seated anywhere close to him,” Kofi Adams revealed.

Asked by Kwami Sefa Kayi, host of Peace FM’s Kokrokoo Morning Show how the former President felt about this Woyome rigmarole, he replied that he (Rawlings) is “scandalized” by the whole controversy, but “saw it coming”. He said when Mr. Rawlings voiced out concerns about corruption in the current administration; he was subjected to some severe verbal attacks.

“Rawlings feels scandalized about this whole situation because he has said a lot of things about this matter...When he complained about corruption within this government, he was tongue-lashed by some members of the public including leading NDC figures…so he’s tried to avoid some of these issues. He foresaw this because he has been in that seat before so he can envisage when people are rushing to enrich themselves…but his (Rawlings) indifference with Alfred Woyome has nothing to do with the circumstances surrounding the €500,000 donation he received from the Austrian consulate meant for him (Rawlings)….,” Kofi Adams said.