African Court Throws Out Woyome

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Arusha, Tanzania, has shrugged off a case filed by businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, against the Republic of Ghana.

Mr Woyome applied to the Continental court arguing that his human rights were being trampled upon by Ghana in relation to the case in which he sued Ghana for abrogating a financial engineering services contract and was paid 51.2million Ghana cedis.

It follows a ruling by Ghana’s Supreme Court that there was no contract between Woyome and Ghana; and ordered that he should refund the money.

But according to Mr Woyome, the terms of the agreement, Ghana violated his rights and therefore he wants the African Court to help protect his human rights.

But the Court, presided over by Honourable Lady Justice Tujlani Rose Chizumil, on Friday, 28 June 2019 ruled that: “The court finds that the applicant’s rights to nondiscrimination, his right to equality before the law and to equal protection of law as guaranteed under Articles 2 and 3 of the Charter were not violated by the respondent. The court notes that since no violation has been established, the issue of reparation does not arise. Consequently, the applicant’s prayers for reparation is dismissed.”

Already, a single Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Alfred Benin, ordered that several properties identified as belonging to the embattled businessman Alfred Woyome, be sold to off set the judgement debt paid illegally to him by the State.

The properties are two executive buildings located at Trassaco in Accra, the office complex of Anator Holdings, a company owned by Mr. Woyome, two residential buildings at Caprice and Abelemkpe, both suburbs in Accra, as well as a mining quarry in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

The state identified the properties owned by Mr. Woyome which are estimated at GHc 20 million that it believes could prove vital in retrieving the GH¢ 51.2 million judgement debt he received from the state unlawfully.

In Thursday’s ruling, the court said a claim by the now-defunct UT Bank that Mr Woyome used two of his houses at Trassaco as well as a quarry as collateral for a loan could not be proven.

They all have a total worth of GHS20 million, according to Deputy Attorney General Yeboah Dame, who addressed the media after the ruling.