Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr., has asked one-time Sports and Finance Minister in the erstwhile Kufuor administration, Yaw Osafo-Maafo to defend himself against allegations leveled against him and ex-President Kufuor by a leading member of the governing National Democratic Congress and bring closure to the issue.
According to him, if he (Osafo-Maafo) fails to do so, it will not bode well for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) considering the fact that he is a member of Nana Akufo-Addo�s campaign team and was once head of the ministry in charge of the bidding process.
Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) bankroller who was doled out GH�41,811,480.59 of state money in a court settlement, told a media briefing in Accra, that he won the huge amount squarely, because the Kufuor administration ditched him after winning the contract to execute a job in connection with the renovation of the two leading stadia in the country, and the construction of an additional two.
The NDC guru who reportedly contributed extremely generously at a recent fund-raising ceremony for the party and also funded some officials of the NDC to witness the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, said he went to court to redeem the losses he suffered after the erstwhile Kufuor administration denied him the right to renovate various stadia prior to the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.
A High Court in 2010 ordered the State to pay an amount of GH�42 million in judgment debt to Mr. Woyome over what he describes as the illegal termination of his contract.
But reports indicate that the judgment was given in default of a defence by the Attorney General�s Department. Some critics, have therefore, accused officials of the AG�s Department of deliberately refusing to defend the state to enable Mr. Woyome win the case.
At the same press conference, Mr. Woyome, who is a co-opted member of the Volta Regional Executive of the NDC, alleged that high ranking officials in the Kufuor administration attempted to kill him.
He recounted an incident in which he claimed over 200 policemen besieged the court premises with an order to shoot him on sight. He was then pursuing a case against a Nigerian pastor in the Supreme Court.
�Thank God there were good people in that administration who do not want that,� he said.
But speaking as a panelist on Metro TV�s �Good Morning Ghana�, Mr. Pratt said the allegation leveled against the Kufuor administration is not to be joked with especially considering the fact that it borders on murder. He also maintained that Mr. Osafo-Maafo needs to offer explanations.
��he (Osafo-Maafo) being a member of Nana Akufo-Addo�s campaign team, if these allegations are left to hang, it can have some impact on the electioneering effort of the NPP. So he has a responsibility to tell us what the truth is�Mr. Osafo-Maafo cannot hide, he has to come out and say what he knows�whatever it is, this matter must not be closed. We need to find a lot more�,� he said.
The Senior Journalist also stressed that the Attorney-General�s department need to give �good reasons� why the state failed to put up a defence.
��I want to find out why we didn�t fight this case at all,�we need to query the Attorney General�s department about why he decided not to fight the matter and the reasons must be good�If you spend money on a feasibility report and so on, is that a responsibility of the state? If you bid for a contract, you spend money but if you lose the contract, who should refund that money to you?...I am totally confused about this case. There is something which is not right. If a state is to pay for one�s feasibility report, it raises many issues�I cannot justify this�,� Kwesi Pratt posited.
Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com
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