STATEMENT: NPP Germany Calls For A Public Inquiry Into The Wayome Saga

The Germany Branch of the New Patriotic Party[NPP] calls on President John Evans Atta-Mills to set up an independent public inquiry to investigate the circumstances that led to the payment of 42 Million Ghana Cedis to Mr Alfred Agbesi Wayome, an NDC financier on June 4 2010.
As concerned Ghanaians this call has become necessary in view of the gravity of the scam, the amount of money involved, the subsequent events following the disclosure and the murky relationship between Mr Alfred Agbesi Wayome and the Mills-Mahama administration.
Undoubtedly, the Wayome saga is the biggest fraud in our nation’s history to be perpetrated by government with the active participation and connivance of the Attorney General whose duty it is to protect and defend the national interest. The role of the Attorney General among others is to act as the Legal Advisor to the state and also represent the state in all Legal disputes. The people of Ghana therefore have the legitimate expectation that in the performance of its statutory functions, the Attorney General will exercise due diligence and follow proper procedure with the view to protecting and defending the national interests.
It is sad to note however, that the rather shabby and unprofessional manner the case involving the payment of monies to Mr Alfred Agbesi Wayome was handled was not just reckless it also demonstrate active participation on the part of the Attorney General to carry out such a despicable act against the people of Ghana. More worrying is the failure/refusal of the Attorney General to go to court to defend a very simple and straight forward case. Every first year Law Student knows that only parties to a contract have the right to enforce the terms of the contract or ask for remedies in case of a breach. This is referred to as Privity of Contract as was established in Tweddle v. Atkinson (1861) and later affirmed in Dunlop Pheumatic Tyre Co v.Selfridge (1915). Secondly we are at a loss to understand why the Attorney General was not able/willing to challenge the capacity (locus standi) of Mr Wayome to file the suit in the first place. Clearly there was no contract between the government of Ghana and Mr Alfred Wayome and as such he had no standing in Law to sue the government of Ghana in that respect.
We are also surprised that such a huge amount of money could be transferred to a single individual without the prior knowledge and consent of the President. It is estimated that the 42 million cedis given to Mr Alfred Agbesi Wayome can put up 420 Schools under trees or construct 18 Senior Secondary Schools. This amount is also twice the entire budget for the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs which stands at 15.9 Million per the 2012 Budget.
Interestingly, while the President claimed to be unaware of the transaction and needed more briefing, some leading members of the NDC who are also members of government were busy defending the same transaction and desperately trying to justify the payment of the 42 Million cedis to Mr Alfred Agbesi Wayome. Mr David Annan a member of the NDC Legal Team was the first to run to the defence of Mr Alfred Agbesi Wayome to be followed by Mr Alex Segbefia, Deputy Chief of Staff at the Presidency. As if this was not enough, Mr Akyena Bretuo, a member of the President’s Communications Team was appointed Media liaison officer for Mr Alfred Agbesi Wayome.
We are not in any way surprised by the desperate attempt by government to defend and protect Mr Alfred Agbesi Wayome. It might interest Ghanaians to know that it was Mr Alfred Agbesi who financed the GET ATTA –MILLS ELECTED (GAME) campaign. Also Mr Alfred Agbesi Wayome is the so called financier who allegedly sponsored over 500 NDC foot soldiers to travel to South Africa for 2010 World Cup. We state on authority that the 5 Million Dollars he spent on this ‘humanitarian’ gesture has since been refunded to him by government.
We wish to state that the decision by the President to name the Economic and Organised Crime Office to investigate this all important issue is ill-conceived, self-serving and a window dressing exercise that would not in any way help in unravelling this massive fraud. We are convinced that EOCO is not the appropriate body to investigate this matter because of possible conflict of interest. Currently, EOCO falls under the Attorney General’s Department and in the performance of its functions, it can only prosecute any possible wrong doing with the approval of the Attorney General’s Department. It is difficult to imagine how such a body can be independent and impartial when it has to investigate the Attorney General who is party to this fraudulent act. In effect, the situation can be likened to an arranged match, the result of which had already been predetermined.
Our scepticism and indeed fears are further heightened by the fact that since the President took office in January 2009, 320 committees have been set up to investigate various wrong doings all of which ended up being mere window dressing.
Against this background we call for establishment of an Independent Public Inquiry to investigate this fraud. To ensure its independence the body should be chaired by a High Court Judge with members drawn from the Ghana Bar Association, Institute of Chartered Accounts, Institute of Architects and the Institute of Surveyors
Secondly, we demand the immediate dismissal of Mrs Betty-Mould Iddrisu, former Attorney General now Minister for Education. Clearly, her incompetence and recklessness had caused the Ghanaian tax-payer 42 Million Ghana Cedes; an amount that could have been channelled into vital sectors such as Health, Education and Agriculture
Finally, we challenge President Atta-Mills to demonstrate his commitment to fighting the massive corruption that has engulfed his government by setting up a Public Inquiry to get to the bottom of the Wayome saga. Anything short of a Public Inquiry is a non starter and would not be acceptable to Ghanaians.
God Bless Our Homeland Ghana
Signed
Kawaka Anane-Gyinde
Director of Communications
NPP-Germany