Deputy Minister-designate for Local Government and Rural Development, O. B Amoah said he was arrested under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration as an attempt to indict the erstwhile New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the wrongful payment of GHC51.2 million to embattled businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome.
The NDC administration illegally paid the GH¢51.2 million to Woyome for his alleged role in the construction of stadia ahead of the 2008 African Nation Cup (CAN) tournament in Ghana under NPP government.
However, the Mills-Mahama administration arrested and detained then Deputy Minister for Education and Sports, O. B. Amoah for 24 hours over the controversial saga.
Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee for vetting Thursday, Mr. Amoah indicated the NPP administration did not have any contract with Woyomo and therefore would not have paid money to him.
“I saw my arrest as an attempt to indict NPP. We had stated that as far as we were concerned, we did not owe anybody for the construction of the stadia.
“We insisted we did not owe anybody until the NDC government came and paid the money to Woyome,” Mr. Amoah.
The Akuapem South MP also rubbished rumours that he received GH¢ 75,000 of the GH¢51.2 million judgment debt wrongfully paid to Woyome.
He reiterated the claims were fabricated by some persons in NDC government to smear him and the NPP.
Background
Former President Kufuor-led NPP administration entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Waterville Holdings Limited in 2005, for the company to source for funds for the construction of stadia for the CAN 2008.
The Kufuor government later abrogated the MOU with Waterville because it was not able to source for the funds.
Woyome succeeded in receiving the GH¢51.2 million as compensation for his role as a “financial engineer” in the MOU but it later turned out that the money wrongfully paid to him.
While a legal processes was ongoing to retrieve the money from Woyome, there were rumours that O.B Amoah had received some GH¢75,000 of the judgment debt from Woyome.
But addressing the issue publicly before Parliament’s Appointments Committee Mr. Amoah said, “Mr. Chairman never. GH¢75,000? I’ve never seen that amount in my life. I think it was an attempt to indict the NPP administration as far as the stadium construction was concerned. But thankfully, because some of us have been in that ministry, we were able to set the record straight.”
“If you look at the Supreme Court judgment, or even the Justice Appau commission report, nowhere was OB Amoah or the NPP indicted in that matter.
“If indeed we wanted to make these payments and make probably something out of it, then we should have paid it but we resisted fiercely that we were not entitled to pay a cedi outside what we had agreed to pay,” he concluded.
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