The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is calling for the immediate dismissal from office of former A-G, Madam Betty Mould Iddrisu, accusing her of conniving with embattled NDC guru, Alfred Agbesi Woyome to fleece the state.
The Member of Parliament for Manhyia Constituency, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, who made the call believes Betty Mould-Iddrisu�s actions and inactions during her tenure as the Attorney General in the whole �Woyome brouhaha� is tantamount to causing financial loss to the state.
Mr Woyome, a former Deputy Consul of Austria, brought a case against the state on April 19, 2011, claiming he was wrongfully denied a contract to build stadia for the Ghana 2008 tournament and in lieu of that claimed GHC51,283,480.59 in damages.
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 claims 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.
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 secured a default judgement.
The court, presided over by His Lordship IO Tanko Amadu, had ruled for the enforcement of a negotiated settlement for the sum of GHC42m between the state, represented at that time by Attorney-General Betty Mould-Iddrisu, and the NDC financier, for alleged contract executed in respect of the construction of stadia for the CAN 2008 tournament.
However, recent reports on the on-going saga indicates that contrary to earlier reports that the Ghana government had paid GH�42million to the self-styled NDC financier as judgment debt in connection with the construction of stadia for the hosting of the CAN 2008 tournament in Ghana, the NDC guru actually received GH�58 m as pay-off.
According to the Auditor General�s report for the year ending 2010, Mr. Woyome received almost GH�58 million as �settlement of claim involving rehabilitation of three stadia�; GH�42million earlier before another GH�17m.
Speaking in an interview with Okay FM�s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Napo as the Manhyia MP is affectionately called, expressed his disappointment in the former Attorney General for her �ignorance�.
According to him, it is amazing how Madam Mould-Iddrisu, herself a pro in legality, could disrespect a court order and go ahead to dole such huge sums of state money out.
To him, there is every pointer to the fact that the former A-G conspired with the NDC bankroller to rip the nation off, describing it as corruption in the highest order.
The NPP MP dared Mr Woyome to produce any document which indicates that he has any contract with government, stressing that he only took advantage of lapses in the system to fleece the state.
�I state quite categorically that Mr. Woyome has defrauded the state because he has no contract with government to warrant that settlement,� Napo said.
Meanwhile, Minority Caucus in Parliament has also called on President John Evans Atta-Mills to relieve Betty Mould-Iddrisu of her current ministerial post as education minister for being �negligent, reckless and unprofessional� in the case.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the Minority demanded investigations into the whole process and even asked for an independent public inquiry into the case, to be televised live on national television, to avail the processes to Ghanaians and to settle the issue once and for all, according PeaceFM's Parliamentary Correspondent, Emmanuel Akorli.
Source: Beatrice Adepa Frempong/Peacefmonline.com
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