By Nana Ama Agyeman Asante
Alas! It did not happen. The much expected showdown between former Attorney General, Martin Amidu and businessman Alfred Woyome at the Supreme Court on Thursday, November 24, 2016 did not come off as scheduled.
As Mr. Amidu predicted, Woyome who was screaming his readiness to face him in court applied for a review of the earlier ruling. Justice Enin Yeboah’s ruling to allow Amidu to orally examine Mr. Woyome sent him and the NDC spinning. The oral examination was to establish if he had any property to pay off what we now know to be an unlawful judgement debt.
Had everything gone according to plan, we would have known by close of day the people who benefited from the GHC 51 million cedi paid to the businessman. We might have understood why officials who swore to protect the state connived with others to steal from the state.
Oh what joy this day would have been for us to finally know these hypocrites hindering the government’s fight against corruption. But this was coming. The NDC’s great anguish over the a potential oral examination of Woyome over the GHC 51 million judgement debt manifested when officials of the party turned on Amidu as if he is the enemy.
Consider this: The state after the story broke in 2010 claimed the payment had been a mistake and it would retrieve it. They once chased and arrested Woyome in traffic and proceeded to arraign him at a High Court on the charges of defrauding by false pretence and causing financial loss to the state. Even though they managed to bungle the case, they went to the Appeals Court after Woyome was acquitted and discharged by the High Court. Their song has been that they will retrieve the money at all cost.
But it was Martin Amidu who went to the Supreme Court to secure the judgement that ordered Woyome to refund the money. Instead of heartfelt gratitude and praise, the attacks on Mr. Amidu have increased and gotten uglier. The NDC’s National Organiser, Kofi Adams recently alledged that Martin Amidu’s pursuit of the case is borne out of jealousy. He is supposedly jealous of President John Mahama and the current Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah.
The Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine who went to court to prevent Amidu from the oral examination in an interview described Mr. Amidu as a liar.“If anybody has told lies in this matter, Martin Amidu is the one who lied under oath and I’ve got all the false statements that he made under oath [up] to his affidavit.” This from one of the top lawyers of the man who claims he has fought corruption better than other Officials of the government have been at pains to undermine Martin Amidu’s credibility.
They are all acting as if Mr. Amidu will cash the cheque and take it to his hometown when it is the state that vacillated every step of the way. One day, they want to orally examine Woyome in court to establish whether he has “any property or other means of satisfying the Judgement.” The next, they withdraw the case and become staunch defendants of Woyome against the man who originally secured the judgement.
Their crude tactics to silence Amidu and free Woyome convey one meaning, the oral examination of Woyome will hurt the government. Enormously! Since they have not been able to provide one shred of evidence to back their convenient claims of jealousy, it proves Martin Amidu has been telling the truth all along. Top officials in the NDC did indeed benefit from the loot.
The oral examination would hurt many in the NDC, but the ripple effect could shatter the hopes of the president to retain power. It is to our misfortune that the case has been delayed again. The campaign for election 2016 is nearing close, it would have ended the speculation and affirmed the obvious, that when it comes to corruption, the Mahama government just talks.
Officials of the government that has been on the campaign trail selling its achievements in all things, including the fight against corruption stood with Woyome and not Amidu.
The good thing is that, the courts have been excellent in the unravelling of the mystery surrounding the payment of the GHC 51 million. Whatever happens next, We can be sure that one day we will know the architects and the beneficiaries of the crime. For now, Ghanaians can help Martin Amidu by doing as he asked; to vote President John Mahama out. After all, he is the only one who has always put Ghana before party unlike the president and his people.
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