Supreme Court throws out Amidu

The Supreme Court yesterday dismissed an application filed by Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu that sought to compel the Attorney General (AG) to enforce the judgment of the court and retrieve the €47 million fraudulently paid to Waterville Holdings (BVI) Limited, a company belonging to businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome and others.

The five-member panel presided over by Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie and assisted by Justices Sule Gbadegbe, Alfred Benin, Samuel Marful-Sau and Agnes Dordzie dismissed the application on the grounds that it was not premised on any rule of law.

Main Suit

In his application, Mr. Amidu had argued that unless the court ‘compels’ the AG to enforce the order and also Woyome’s company is ordered to comply and pay the full amount of debt, the labour and expenses exerted by him as the plaintiff on behalf of Ghanaians would go in vain.

Deputy Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame, representing the state, opposed the application saying it was “laden with procedural improprieties” and urged the court to dismiss it.

He said although Mr. Amidu claims to have approached the government, at no point did he write to the AG who is charged with the responsibility to retrieve the money.

As the argument got heated, Justice Baffoe-Bonnie had told Mr. Amidu that the judgment of the court had already ordered the AG to retrieve the money and once that order had been made, the court could not issue another order to go after the judgment debtor, Waterville Holdings (BVI) Limited.

Dame’s Position

Mr. Dame at a point took exceptions to what he said was an impression created by Mr. Amidu that the AG was not interested in retrieving the money.

Explaining himself, the Deputy Attorney General rather suggested that Mr. Amidu was the one who was not willing to co-operate with them in their efforts to retrieve the money contrary to the orders of the Supreme Court for the two to compare notes.



He said Mr. Amidu went to the media with the issue instead of collaborating with the AG with the evidence that could help in the retrieval of the money.

He then told the court that the documents filed by Mr. Amidu did not substantially help the Office of the Attorney General in retrieving the money, insisting that the documents filed by Mr. Admidu only go to serve as a statement of case of his (Amidu’s) application.

Amidu’s Response

Mr. Amidu, however, somehow lost his cool suggesting that the Deputy AG was trying to make him look bad.

Mr. Amidu said he had no option but to file the instant application to ensure that the money is retrieved. He looked upset by Mr. Dame’s claim that he had ‘leaked’ information to the press, saying “I don’t want to be tagged as someone who tells lies.”

Just as Mr. Amidu was walking away from the Bar, he was heard saying “if you don’t respect me, you can’t come to me,” while pointing at Mr. Dame.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com