Woyome saga: I was cleared by the court; I acted professionally - Betty Mould-Iddrisu

A former Attorney General, Betty Mould-Iddrisu has debunked assertions she was in any way implicated in the Woyome scandal still being battled in Court.

Betty Mould-Iddrisu, an Attorney General during the Mills administration and was accused of being involved in the scandal through her actions and inactions whiles in Office.

The former Attorney General who happened to be the first female of the Office stressed she was vindicated by a 3-man Court of Appeal ruling in which no criminal or fraudulent act was attributed to her in the discharge of her duties.

She believes she acted competently, professionally and exercised her duties with diligence despite the massive backlash she received from the public.

The Vice-Chair of the NDC blamed media for playing up her role in the scandal and accusing her falsely and misrepresenting the facts of the case.

To her, the Woyome issue has never been about the money but about doing the right thing within the circumstances.

She indicated her actions were not triable, adding she has never been on trial in relation to the Woyome scandal that is still being battled in Court.

"You know I wasn't Attorney General when he was paid the bulk of the money and for me, it wasn't about the money difficult though it may seem in people's eyes. It was about the principle of doing the right thing and I am always glad, I always tell people that there is a God, a just God especially when you are a lawyer, you can be cleared through the Court system. I was not on trial, I was never on trial. I don't think that my actions were triable" she stressed.

She averred, "In the end, when the Court of Appeal, the 3 Appeals Cout Judges gave a verdict on whether this money was procured fraudulently and my role in the issue came up, they all insisted Betty Mould-Iddrisu as Attorney General acted professionally, she acted competently, she followed due diligence and that was it. She exercised her official actions as a lawyer and as an Attorney General and that is what you need. And that is the kind of validation that quite frankly some of your media folks were making me doubt myself"

The NDC stalwart clarified that though there were backlash and disaffection from the public with some criticising her whilst in government for some actions or inactions on her path, it was all a part of politics.

Her gender, she suggested also contributed to the criticisms that came her way because as a woman she had gotten to the very top.

This, however, did not sway her as she claims at every point in time she acted professionally, competently and within the remits of the law.

"I think it is one of the hazards of politics, it's one of the hazards of putting yourself out there and it is one of the hazards unfortunately of being a woman at the very top. Sometimes you can't see that they are sharpening the knives for you, sometimes also we were wrong in some of our actions, erroneously wrong, not criminally wrong or fraudulently wrong but erroneously wrong. We are humans, we make mistakes" she disclosed on 21minutes with KKB.

At no point in time, Betty Mould-Iddrisu confidently stated, did she doubt her actions and insisted she takes responsibility for her decisions.

"I think I am competent to know and to take responsibility for my own actions within a certain context. I don't have a problem with that"

"It is only the good Lord who can judge our actions, that at a certain point in time, we acted professionally, we acted in accordance with the law, we acted competently. There was never a day, never one day of doubt in my mind that I was not doing the right thing" she stated expressing doubt whether she would take same actions she took in government with benefit of hindsight

Background to Woyome issue

In a Daily Graphic report in March 2015, it stated that Mr Woyome sued the state for a breach of contract relating to the construction of some stadia for the 2008 African Cup of Nations hosted by Ghana and was awarded a default judgement to a tune of Gh¢51 million because the state failed to put in a defence.



He was arrested on February 3, 2011, after the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), which was commissioned by President John Evans Atta Mills to investigate the matter, had implicated him of wrongdoing.

According to Mr Woyome’s statement of claim on March 31, 2010, the then Attorney General, Betty Mould Iddrisu, wrote to request payment as she informed the Finance Minister then, Kwabena Duffuor that Woyome was claiming two per cent compensation fee for financial engineering on the mobilisation of funds for the CAN Project and that she had reached a settlement with him.

According to paragraph 17 of Woyome's statement of claim in court, the Finance Minister on April 6, 2010, wrote to the Controller and Accountant General requesting “the release of funds” to pay the claim of “Ghana cedi equivalent of €22,129,501.74.”

On May 28, 2010, Betty Mould wrote again to the Finance Minister after Kwabena Duffuor did not follow her instructions. She informed him that Woyome had sued and successfully obtained a default judgement of a total of Gh¢51,283,480.59, including interests and costs.

Paragraph 18 of the Woyome statement of claim in court stated that on April 7, 2010, the Controller and Accountant General issued a “Bank Transfer Advice… to the Director, Banking Department, Bank of Ghana”, requesting “for the release of funds to pay the sum of Gh¢41,811,480.59.”