WOYOME's 'First Claim' On Gov't ... Was For Euro 6m ...

It has emerged that embattled NDC guru, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, on August 18, 2009 wrote a letter to then Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Rashid Pelpuo, challenging a 33 million Euro claim that Waterville had made on the Government of Ghana, contending that �the demand by Waterville BVI is grossly exaggerated�. View Attached Document >> He also asserted that M-Powapak, Austro Invest Limited and he, Alfred Woyome were interested parties in the claim Waterville BVI was making. The letter which was copied to the Secretary to the President, Mr. Bebaako-Mensah, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Betty Mould-Iddrisu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Kwabena Duffour among others, claimed that Waterville BVI had already �received some compensation from Micheletti and company and from Consar (the main contractor for the Kumasi Stadium). Austro Invest also received some form of compensation from Waterville BVI�. Mr. Woyome insisted that the claim by Waterville BVI should have been a joint claim by M-Powapak, Alfred Woyome, and Austro Invest, adding that �the quantum of Waterville BVI�s demand is far above what should have been the legitimate claim�. �M-POWAPAK, AUSTRO INVEST, ALEXANDRA VAN CLEEF (AUSTRO INVEST REPRESENTATIVE IN THE UNITED STATES) AND ALFRED WOYOME�S LEGITIMATE CLAIM UNDER THIS CIRCUMSTANCE IS EURO 6 MILLION WHILE WATERVILLE�S CLAIM SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABOUT EURO 5 MILLION WITHOUT INTEREST, CHARGES AND DAMAGES�, emphasised Mr. Woyome in his August 18, 2009 letter to the Minister of Youth and Sports. �I USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO FORMALLY DEMAND ON MY OWN BEHALF AND ON BEHALF OF AUSTRO INVEST, M-PAWAPAK, AND ALEXANDRA VAN-CLEEF; THE SUM OF EURO 6 MILLION IN LIEU OF THE CAN 2008 STADIA CONSTRUCTION BID THAT WAS CANCELLED BY THE CABINET OF THE GOVERNMENT OF GHANA ILLEGALLY WHEN IT WAS CLEAR THAT MY CONSORTIUM HAS WON AND HAS STARTED ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION OF SOME OF THE PROJECTS AND ALSO FULLY IN THE MIDDLE OF FULL MOBILIZATION TO MOVE TO OTHER SITES�, articulated Woyome. Mr. Woyome then requested that the negotiation between the Attorney-General�s Department and Waterville be terminated to enable him (Woyome) �put forward the chronological evidence, carefully documented� for Government�s information and necessary action. Woyome recalled that Waterville BVI led the consortium that won the contract and demolished parts of the Accra Sports Stadium upon a written instruction to Waterville BVI from the then Minister of Education and Sports. He said after the Kufuor Administration had �abruptly cancelled the bid illegally through a Cabinet decision citing high cost which decision I challenged, by writing to all stakeholders including the National Procurement Authority, Waterville BVI through my help then formed Micheletti Company Limited to handle the construction of the Accra Sports Stadium�. The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Betty Mould-Iddrisu subsequently in a letter dated August 28, 2009, drew the attention of Waterville BVI to the claim of Mr. Woyome of M-Powapak against the claims of Waterville BVI which were then being discussed for settlement. Waterville BVI, in a response dated November 20, 2009 through its Solicitors, Tetteh and Company, wrote to the Attorney-General to the effect that �the stadia contracts were contracted between Waterville and the Government of Ghana (GoG); neither Powapak nor Woyome was a party. It is therefore wrongful for Mr. Woyome or Powapak to make a claim in a contract of which neither is a party�. (See The New Crusading GUIDE, December 29, 2011 for the full text of that letter). Waterville�s Solicitors intimated that Waterville did engage M-Powapak to provide Waterville with financial engineering services but the relationship was terminated by a Termination Agreement dated 25th November, 2006. �POWAPAK�S CLAIMS AGAINST WATERVILLE WERE FULLY SETTLED AND ACKNOWLEDGED IN THE AGREEMENT. THEREFORE NEITHER POWAPAK NOR WOYOME HAS ANY CLAIM AGAINST WATERVILLE. A COPY OF THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH POWAPAK IS ANNEXED,� Tetteh and Company indicated to the Attorney-General on behalf of their clients, Waterville BVI. Tetteh and Company�s November 20, 2009 letter to the Attorney-General was also copied to the Minister of Youth and Sports, Rashid Pelpuo, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Kwabena Duffour, the Secretary to the President, Mr. J.K. Bebaako-Mensah and Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome. Waterville BVI�s position then was that Woyome�s allegation that Waterville�s claim was illegitimate clearly betrayed his (Woyome�s) limited knowledge and involvement in the construction works, and importantly his motive to discredit the legitimate claim of Waterville to payment for pre-financed works. �Mr. Woyome�s emergence in the matter is belated and with no locus standi. The purported discredit of Waterville�s claim betrays a motive to settle scores for matters unconnected with current negotiation�, argued Waterville BVI through their Solicitors, Tetteh and Company. In another development, The New Crusading GUIDE�s sources at the Attorney-General�s Department have also provided us with a letter dated January 11, 2010 which Mr. Woyome wrote to the Attorney-General, in direct reaction to the November 20, 2009 response from Tetteh and Company on behalf of their clients, Waterville BVI. �It seems that the attorney (Kwami Tetteh) does not know nor understand fully what all these entail. His facts are wrong and this might be due to insufficient/incomplete or misleading information given to him by his client. Mr. S. Kwami Tetteh would be shocked and surprised when we finally sit to examine all facts and evidence. The CAN 2008 project was conceived and mainly brought to its conclusion by me, M-Powapak (of which I am alternate director) and Austro Invest�, Woyome boasted. Mr. Woyome claimed that the conception and execution of the CAN 2008 project �begun with VA-Tech of Austria as contractors and later VAMED Engineering, Austria (which M-Powapak represented) took over and spearheaded the project�. �Waterville was brought on-board through Mr. Ernesto Taricone who approached me through the consultants; Building Industry Consultants (the supervisory consultants to the CAN 2008 stadia construction). Waterville BVI was in existence before I was contacted but I helped to form Waterville Austria and later helped to mould Micheletti Company Limited. Consar Limited was also introduced to the project by me when BIC introduced the owner to me,� Woyome underscored. He pointed out that in his letter of August 18, 2009 he did not state that Waterville owed him but �rather disputed the claim of Waterville on Government and introduced my claim which should have been part (joint) of Waterville�s Claim on Government�. �A lot happened and I am the only person having all documents on the project carefully kept by me with the exception of certain documents between the Chinese construction firm and the then Government relating to the Tamale and Essipong stadia which have been priced more than two times the original cost notwithstanding the manner these stadia were financed instead of the available soft finance provided by my group and approved by the IMF and the World Bank through due processes�, claimed Mr. Woyome. He argued that Mr. Kwame Tetteh should be made aware that he (Woyome) �was deliberately sidelined, made to lose lots of money and even arrested wrongfully two times; first, that I was dealing in the small arms and dozens of uniformed police men forcibly entered the Supreme Court premises to effect my arrest and secondly, just when I returned from Libya to arrange for the support of Ghana�s bid in Cairo for the CAN 2008, I was invited to answer questions on the allegation of planning a coup�. �Madam, I propose a round table meeting of all parties to prove and justify all claims to bring this matter to a speedy conclusion. The consultants, Building Industry Consultants (BIC), Rex Danquah of the CAN 2008 LOC, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Legal Department of the Ministry of Finance should also be invited,� Woyome advised.