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10.01.2012 NPP

STATEMENT BY THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY ON THE WOYOME SAGA

By NPP
STATEMENT BY THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY ON THE WOYOME SAGA
10.01.2012 LISTEN

The NPP has noted that the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has announced that it is about to commence hearings, in matters arising out of the Report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana (Consolidated Fund) for the Year Ended 31 December 2010. This includes the payments made to Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome which has created public outrage. We note that article 186 of the 1992 Constitution, gives Parliament the exclusive jurisdiction in matters arising out of the Auditor-General's Report. We note that the Minority in Parliament had earlier called for an independent body to be established by the President to investigate the matter. However, events subsequent to this call has led us to the irresistible conclusion that a bi-partisan body, the Public Accounts Committee is in the best position to investigate this matter

Firstly, the President in his interaction with senior journalists and editors at the Castle, Osu, on January 9th 2012 stated categorically that he was not going to heed to the call to set up the independent enquiry. Secondly, the answer by the President that he did not authorise the payment of the monies to Woyome and or did not know anything about the payment has put the President's participation in the Woyome Saga in issue. We wish to draw the attention of the people of Ghana to the fact that recently in Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of the Ugandan Parliament in a matter in which the Ugandan Attorney-General and Minister of Finance had made payments which raised issues similar to the payments made to Woyome.

Last but not least, we view the invitation by the President to EOCO to intervene in the matter a smoke screen, charade and a calculated attempt to cover up the

involvement of the President and his Ministers in this unfortunate unfair. We wish to point out that, the first person to make this call for EOCO to intervene, was none other person than Woyome, the main actor in this whole saga. The petition to EOCO was sent by Benjamin Akyena Brentuo, of the Office of the President. Also whilst the President claims, as he did in his press interaction, that he is merely seeking a report from EOCO, EOCO is investigating alleged serious offences involving fraud in the award and execution of contracts relating to CAN 2008. This becomes even the more curious, since the Attorney-General, Hon. Betty Mould-Iddrisu who failed to defend the action and agreed to a consent judgement, when Woyome made his fantastic claims against government, went back to court herself seeking to set aside the judgment on account of mistake.

For the above reasons, we as a Party have decided that our officials and members will not be part of the investigations at EOCO, since this forms part of a carefully orchestrated ploy by government to cover up. We wish to emphatically state that, whilst the NPP was in government, Alfred Agbesi Woyome never entered into any legally enforceable contract with government. Also, whilst we were in government, we never had any proof that Woyome had made any sum of monies available, especially the ONE BILLION EUROS, which forms the basis of his supposed claim for financial engineering services rendered to government.

We wish to note that Parliament, through its Public Accounts Committee will scrutinize all the judgment debts contained in the Auditor-General's Report. Our members will cooperate fully with the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament. We call upon the Committee to hold televised public hearings.

Jake O. Obetsebi-Lamptey
(National Chairman)

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