A last-minute attempt by troubled businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome to frustrate efforts by government to sell his properties to defray the GH¢51.2 million he fraudulently received as judgement debt has hit a snag.
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights based in Arusha, Tanzania, has for the second time refused an application by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier to set aside a decision by the Supreme Court of Ghana for his properties to be auctioned to defray the debt.
In June last year, the African Court dismissed an application by Mr. Woyome, who was claiming the violation of his right to non-discrimination equal protection before the law and his right to be heard by an impartial tribunal.
First Application
In his first application, Mr. Woyome had averred that his right was violated because a Supreme Court judge, Justice Jones Victor Dotse, had made some personal remarks against him when he brought the judgement debt case before the highest court for constitutional interpretation.
The African Court, in a unanimous decision, held that although Justice Dotse wrote the lead judgement on the constitutional matter, he was only one of the 11 judges.
The court is of the opinion that the remarks of a single judge cannot be considered sufficient to taint the entire bench. Furthermore, the applicant has not illustrated how the judge’s remarks at the ordinary bench later influenced the decision of the review bench.
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Second Attempt
When everybody thought the case was over, Mr. Woyome, through his lawyer, Francis Xavier Sosu, who is the NDC parliamentary candidate in Madina, once again filed an application asking the international court to review its previous judgement because of a piece of so-called new evidence they had uncovered.
The application for review of the decision of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights was filed by Xavier Sosu on behalf of Mr. Woyome on March 4, 2020.
The application was asking the court to reconsider its previous judgement as well as stay the execution of the orders of Ghana’s Supreme Court for his properties to be sold through auction.