Minister of Communication, Dr Edward Omane-Boamah, says President John Mahama is committed to retrieving every pesewa from the e
According to him, "We are committed to retrieving every pesewa and we also defending. Under President Mahama’s administration no such issue [of judgment debt] has occurred."
Speaking at the meet the press series in Accra on Monday, he said "Mahama’s record in fighting judgement debts is superior to the New Patriotic Party’s."
Dr Omane Boamah said, "President Mahama’s government has fought cases of judgment debts and potential judgment debts more vigorously than previous governments. In less than four years we have successfully defended and saved Ghana over one billion dollars and these include cases involving Balkan Energy Ghana Limited, Sweater and Source, China Jinlin among others. In tackling the problem head on, President Mahama set up the sole commission of inquiry to investigate payments from public funds arising from judgment debts."
At present, the Supreme Court has granted an application filed by former Attorney General Martin Amidu to cross examine Woyome.
Related: Woyome heads to court to stop Amidu's oral examination
However, Woyome said the Supreme Court erred in its ruling allowing former Attorney General Martin Amidu to cross examine him.
But Omane Boamah added that, "President Mahama’s unwavering to retrieving every pesewa paid illegally to any individual including Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome, entities or countries continue unabated. President Mahama has demonstrated the will to protect the public purse and this finds expression in the over one billion dollar saving achieved just because the Attorney General’s department adhered to his publicly known that they should defend such cases and indeed has been defending them."
See more: Here are the documents on Woyome's GH₵35m contract with government
Background
Woyome was paid GH¢51.2 million after he claimed he had incurred losses for financially engineering 1.1 billion Euros for the CAN 2008 tournament and other government projects.
See more: Supreme Court erred in allowing Amidu to examine me - Woyome
However, the Auditor-General's report released in 2010 said the amount was paid illegally to him.
The report resulted in nationwide controversy, with operatives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who were in government during the CAN 2008 tournament claiming Woyome did no work to be paid that whopping sum of money.
The then Attorney-General, Mr Joe Ghartey, said Woyome was contracted to help in raising money for the construction of the stadia but he failed to meet the deadline.
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The then NPP government, he said, had no choice but to abrogate the contract with Woyome.
In 2009, when the NPP had left office, Woyome went to court and claimed that his contract had illegally been terminated and demanded a judgement debt from government.
The Attorney-General in Prof. Mills administration, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, who failed to defend the state, rather negotiated with Woyome for him to reduce his demand on the government.
Woyome then requested for GH¢51.2 million.