A former Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, has revealed how GH¢51.2million judgment debt was paid to Alfred Agbesi Woyome, National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen Show Tuesday, he said there was no pressure on him from powers above to pay the money.
According to him, the Attorney General (AG) wrote to his ministry to ask him to pay the money but he asked the AG to clarify the petitioner’s (Woyome) claim of right to the amount.
However, Dr Duffuor noted the AG surprisingly went to court where an order for payment was issued, adding that it was the court that paid the money and not him.
He said, “When the then-Attorney General and Minister of Justice wrote to me as the sector minister, I asked her to provide all the needed documents for me to pay. So, without the appropriate documents, I refused to pay”.
“As the Finance Minister, I refused to pay because the said the businessman had no documents covering his claims,” the former Governor of the Bank of Ghana said.
He admitted that the money was subsequently paid but it was paid by the courts and not him.
“As Finance Minister, I did not pay it, it was the court that paid,” he emphasised.
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Mr Woyome, who was a financier of the National Democratic Congres, has been involved in a legal tussle with the government since 2013.
While the businessman was initially awarded the default judgment, the Supreme Court later ordered him to refund all monies wrongfully paid him in the form of the judgment debt.
Meanwhile, the state has since secured an order from the court to sell Mr Woyome’s property should he fail to find the money to defray the debt.