—Read The True Court Proceedings
The Republic
vrs
Alfred Agbesi Woyomei
Accused
Person: Present
Legal
Representation: Cynthia Lamptey with Mrs. Marina Opare for the republic.
Osafo Buabeng
with Musah Ahmed and Chris Koka led by Robertson Kpatsa for the accused person
PW1 REMINDED OF HIS OATH FOR FURTHER
CROSS-EXAMINATION
Q:Mrs. Ghanny, at the last adjourned date you told the Court that there
was a letter from the Attorney General instructing your Ministry to pay a settlement
amount to Mr. Woyome. You still stand by that?
A:Yes I do.
Q:Now this letter got to your Ministry before you travelled outside the
country.
A:Yes My Lord
Q:You also told the Court that there was a query raised at the Treasury.
Is that not so?
A:Yes.
Q:As a result of this query, the Minister of Finance wrote back to the
Attorney General for clarification. Is that not so?
A:Yes.
Q:Now the Minister of Finance in fact wrote this to the Attorney General.
I want you to identify this, that is a copy of the letter the Minister wrote;
Dr. Duffuor.
A:I believe it is.
Q:But it is coming from the Ministry of Finance.
A:Yes it is
Buabeng:My Lord we seek to tender this letter from the Ministry
of Finance.
Lamptey:No Objection My Lord
By Court: Exhibit “1”
Q:Mrs. Ghanny, this letter was written on the 12th of April, 2009. Is
that not so?
A:That is what it says.
Q:The Minister for Justice and Attorney General replied to this latter;
Exhibit “1” to the Ministry of Finance.
A:My Lord I wasn't part of the process, so I really cannot speak to that.
Q: But you are here
from the Ministry of Finance.
A:Yes I am.
Q:Are you aware that there was a response from the Attorney General.
A:I believe there was a response.
Q:Now Mrs. Ghanny, look at this, it is a copy of the letter from the
Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Finance.
A:Yes My Lord.
Buabeng: My Lord I
want to tender it through her.
By Court: Exhibit “2”
Q:Now in Exhibit “1”, paragraph 6, the Honourable Minister requested the
Honourable Attorney General to provide him or his Ministry with further
documentation that substantiates the claim of the accused. Is that not so?
A:That is what the letter says.
Q: Now in response,
the Honourable Attorney General indicated in Exhibit “2” the basis for the
settlement of the claim by the accused person. She responded.
A:Yes she did.
Q:Now could you read paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 of the letter slowly, take
your time and read it.
A:“Furthermore, you indicated that your Accounts Office require clarity
and evidence on the supporting documents with regard to whether the claim is
being made by the consortium that won the bid to conduct the financial
engineering led by Mr. Woyome, jointly or separately.
Furthermore to a
Ministry of Finance letter dated 4th May, 2005, Mr. Woyome made arrangements
for the grant of concessional loans for the rehabilitation of the Ohene Djan
and Baba Yara stadia and the construction of three others for the Ghana 2008
football tournament, the construction of six (6) hospitals and the Cobalt 60
Irradiation Plant, among others.
Mr. Woyome's role
in project financial engineering is further evidence by the letter from the
Ministry of Education and Sports dated 5th July, 2005 and an earlier letter
from the then Minister for Environment and Science, Prof. Kasim Kasanga dated
28th October, 2004. In addition, Mr. Woyome together with Waterville set up
offices in Vienna, Austria and Washington D.C., Italy and Switzerland as part
of the project financial engineering work for the projects in Ghana (copies of
letters attached). It can be seen from the available documentation that Mr.
Woyome, as Alternate Director of M-Powapak at the time, acted as the principal
party in discussions with government officials to facilitate the financial
engineering of the projects”.
Q:So based on Exhibit “2” the Attorney General informed the Minister of
Finance that Mr. Woyome had conducted some financial engineering for which he
merited the claim. Is that not so?
A:Yes My Lord.
Q:In Exhibit “2” the Attorney General again wrote that the claim is for
project financial engineering fees. The second paragraph of page 2.
A:The Attorney General indicates that the claim is for project financial
engineering fees by Mr Woyome and Austro-Invest.
Q:You also said at the last adjourned date that there was a default
judgment.
A:Yes.
Q:In fact you got actively involved after the default judgment was
obtained by Mr. Woyome against the government.
A:Yes My Lord.
Q: The Attorney General wrote to your Ministry once again, after the
default judgment.
A: Yes, that is correct.
Q:In fact she recommended that you pay that amount. Is that true?
A:That is true.
Q:So is this a copy of the letter written by the Attorney General to
Ministry of Finance.
A:Yes it is.
Buabeng:My Lord we wish to tender this letter through her.
Lamptey:OBJECTION: My Lord the witness is in the witness box to
answer questions. This is a letter written by somebody else .My Lord she is not
the author of the letter. My Lord we are objecting to it.
By Court: Objection
overruled, the document should go in. At the end of the day the Court will see
the weight to attach to it. The Court will attach the necessary weight Exhibit
“3”
Q:After summarizing everything up, the Attorney General in the last
paragraph requested you to, when I say you I don't mean you personally but your
Ministry, to pay the accused person. Is that not so?
A:Yes My Lord.
Q: Could you read the last but one paragraph.
A:“It is still my position that we pay Mr. Woyome and Austro-Investment
the negotiated amount of GH¢41,811,480.59”
Q:She said, it is still her position that you pay.
A:Yes My Lord
Q:And that is why you paid.
A:Yes My Lord
Q:You did admit a few minutes ago that you were actively involved in this
matter after the default judgment.
A:Yes.
Q:You would agree with me that you saw the default judgment.
A:Yes, I believe a copy was attached to the letter.
Q:Look at this copy and see if it is a copy of the default judgment that
you received.
A:I actually don't remember seeing this, what I saw was something like a
calculation.
Q:You are talking about the entry of judgment
A:Yes I saw the entry of judgment, I didn't see this one.
By Court: What is this document?
Buabeng: This is the certified true copy of the default
judgment. My Lord since she said she has not seen it, I will not tender.
Q:Is there anybody at the Ministry of Finance called Effie Simpson Ekuban
(Mrs.)
A:She was the then acting Chief Director.
Q:She was at post as at that time.
A:Yes, she was the acting Chief Director.
Q:She wrote to the lawyers of Mr. Woyome; that is the accused.
A:I wouldn't know, I would have to see.
Q:Look at this letter.
A:She did sign the letter, yes.
Buabeng:My Lord we seek to tender this letter through the
witness.
Lamptey:My Lord we object to this one too. My Lord one Mrs.
Effie Simpson has signed the letter, this signature wasn't identified. She is
not the author of the letter.
Buabeng:She has signed.
Lamptey:But anybody at all can sign anybody signature. My Lord
there is a signature purporting to be that of Effie Simpson Ekuban (Mrs.), the
witness has not identified the signature whether it is that of Effie. My Lord
how genuine can this be, it is a photocopy too My Lord. No foundation had been
laid.
Buabeng:This is the original.
Lamptey: Well you
didn't tell.
Buabeng:Do you want to see the original.
By Court:Why not, because that is what the Evidence Act says, so
that we compare both the original and the photocopy.
Lamptey: Well, for now that is it.
By Court:So do you withdraw your objection after seeing the
original?
Lamptey:No, I will not withdraw My Lord
By Court:If the PW1 knows the signature because she worked with
her the Court will admit in evidence.
Lamptey:My Lord she wasn't asked that question.
Buabeng:She said it.
By Court:Mr. Osafo Buabeng, learned counsel for prosecution said
you haven't laid proper foundation for that document to be tendered.
Buabeng:My Lord the signature was identified.
By Court:It is so easy for you to repeat the question.
Buabeng:Very well
Q:Look at this document and see whether you can identify the signature of
Mrs. Ekuban.
A:Yes
Buabeng:My Lord she has identified the signature. My Lord we
will take back the original and tender the photocopy after the prosecution has
compared.
Lamptey:My Lord where is the author herself, My Lord they wanted
to say that the author herself is not available. She came here to speak about
what she saw and did about the whole issue. They haven't told the court that
the author herself is not available. Otherwise she will find herself here and
they will be pushing everything from Finance through her. Those that they want
to bring here to make their case for them can be brought. She is here to talk
about what she saw and did about the whole issue My Lord. If they tell us that
Mrs. Ekuban, God forbid, is no more alive, then may be it can be done, but they
haven't said so. So she should come and tender and answer questions they want
to ask on this particular document My Lord.
By Court:Where is your witness coming from?
Lamptey:From Ministry of Finance My Lord.
By Court:And when you led her in evidence what did she say.
Lamptey:That she is at the Legal Department.
By Court:What do you want to do with the document?
Buabeng:My Lord we would like to tender the document.
By Court:I will allow it. Exhibit “4”
By Court:The PW1 is coming from the Ministry of Finance and
identified the signature of Mrs. Effie Ekuban as the signature of the said Mrs.
Ekuban. The original letter was compared with the duplicate and found to be in
order. Objection overruled.
Q: You were involved with the
negotiations between the accused, his lawyer and your Ministry at the Budget
Division of Ministry of Finance. After that meeting you wrote to the accused
through his lawyer, correcting the figures that was due to be paid the accused,
at the first installment.
A: I believe so, a letter had
come from the accused lawyer in which some of the figures were misrepresented,
misquoted. So I did write to correct the figures.
Q: See if this is the letter
that you signed, Mangowa Ghanny, it is original and duplicate.
A: Yes My Lord
Q: My Lord we are tendering it
through the witness.
By Court: Exhibit
“5”
Lamptey: My Lord can
I make a point, I believe this letter is dated 18th May, 2011, and that this
letter may have been written after the civil action was instituted. And it also
makes a reference to a claim for cost which the Ministry was rejecting. The
cost in the default action was incorporated in the 51 Million Ghana Cedis.
Q: You remember that you wrote
to the accused through his lawyer correcting the amount of cost.
A: Yes I did
Q: Now look at this and see if
that is the letter you wrote correcting the amount of cost.
A: Yes My Lord.
Q: My Lord we seek to tender
this letter through the witness.
By Court: Exhibit
“6”
Q: You also prepared a memo to
the Minister of Finance on this issue at a point in time.
A: I probably did, because we
do not unilaterally write letters without doing a memo to our bosses to inform
them about what is going on.
Q: And in that memo you
recommended payment to the accused.
A: I would want to see.
Q: I will also want to see
that memo.
A: I don't remember………….
Q: The memo should be on file
in your Ministry.
A: If indeed there is a memo, yes,
it will be on file.
Q: I believe the Ministry of
Finance you have a file or files on this case.
A: Yes.
Q: And you said the memo will
be in that file.
A: I didn't say that, I said
if indeed there was.
Q: Would you be able to
produce the file or files, including the memo at the next adjourned date.
A: I don't know what memo you
are talking about. At this point in time, the payment is already in process, so
I am not sure about what you mean by I recommended payment, payment of what. I
don't know what you are talking about.
Q: The entire file.
A: I am sorry, I am not sure I
can produce the entire file.
Q: But you told the court a
few seconds ago that there is a file on this case in the ministries.
A: There has to be.
Q: In your evidence in chief,
you said the matter was referred to you; that is the Attorney General's letter.
You summarized, you read the memo.
A: Yes My Lord
Q: It is that memo that we are
looking for.
A: That memo was forwarded to
the Budget Division.
Q: A copy of that memo is on
file in the Ministry.
A: I believe so.
Buabeng: My Lord at
this juncture, we humbly apply that the witness be made to bring that memo and
file at the next adjourned date, so that we can continue the cross-examination
and conclude.
Witness: My Lord
since I am not the custodian of that file which defence counsel requested from
me, could defence counsel request it directly from the custodian of the file.
By Court: Madam, you
made mention of a memo which you prepared, which was forwarded to the Budget
Division. So I would ask you to trace it up and bring it at the next adjourned
date; the memo that you did the summarization.
Buabeng: My Lord the
questions that will follow are all based on the introduction of that memo. So
having cross-examined extensively, I will pause, I have not ended the
cross-examination, but I am pausing, and then on the next adjourned date
hopefully I will end with her.
By Court: Case
adjourned to 22nd June, 2012 for continuation of cross-examination by learned
counsel for accused.
(SGD.) JOHN AJET-NASAM
JUSTICE OF THE HIGH COURT
