Accra, Nov. 28, – The Supreme
Court (SC) on Tuesday by a unanimous decision dismissed an application filed by
Mr Osafo Boabeng, Counsel for Mr Alfred Woyome, for a stay of execution of
proceedings.
Mr Woyome, filed the motion
praying the Ghanaian Court to put on hold, his oral examination and all other
processes by the state to retrieve the GHc51 million unlawful Judgment Debt
paid to him.
He wanted the Ghanaian Court to
suspend hearing until his appeal at the African Court for Human and Peoples
Rights, based in Arusha, Tanzania was determined.
Giving the ruling of the five
member panel of the Ghanaian Supreme Court presided over by Justice Jones
Dotse; Justice Anim Yebaoah said the application has been dismissed based on
the fact that it lacked merit.
He said the Ghanaian Supreme Court
has a sole jurisdiction, which it does not share with any other court both
locally and internationally, and as such the Ghanaian Court cannot suspend
hearing as requested.
The Ghanaian Court was also of
the view that Counsel for Mr Woyome was not able to prove to it, that its
decision would infringe on the applicants human right.
Earlier when the case was called
on Tuesday morning, Mr Boabeng prayed the Ghanaian Court to move a motion to
arrest the ruling of the African Court on the application for a stay of
execution.
He said based on developments
that came to his notice on Monday from the African Court for Ghana to suspend
all efforts to retrieve the GH₵51.2
million Judgment Debt paid to Mr Woyome, until the Ghanaian Court determines an
appeal filed by him arguing that his human rights were being abused by Ghana’s
Supreme Court, he filed the motion to arrest the court’s ruling.
He moved the motion relying on
their affidavit in support of the order from the African Continental Court
which is directed at the government of the Ghana, who was represented by the
Attorney General, who is party in this matter and who is executing the judgment
of July 24, 2014 on behalf of the government.
However the Deputy Attorney
General, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame opposed the application, saying the Ghanaian
Court has already proven that the provision of an international treaty that
comes to Ghana as a party, would only be
binding on the Ghanaian Court only when they have been incorporated into the laws
of Ghana.
He said the practical of the
African Court has not been incorporated into the laws of Ghana; saying even
though the treaty was rectified by the Parliament of Ghana on July 15, 2004,
there has not been further incorporation in the laws of Ghana by an Act of
Parliament.
Mr Yeboah Dame argued that the
decision emanating from the African Court was not part of the laws of Ghana and
cannot be upheld.
The international obligation of
Ghana as spelt out in the 1992 Constitution, requires the government to promote
and protect the interest of Ghana, and this would require that, the decision of
the Ghanaian Court in exercising of its sole jurisdiction to enter into
international treaties should be respected.
He further argued that the request
of the applicant to arrest the ruling should be dismissed because the Ghanaian
Court does not share its jurisdiction with any other courts when it comes to
Constitutional matters.
The Ghanaian Court then ruled
that there was no factual legal basis to arrest the ruling, and also it does
not share its jurisdiction with any other court, and as such dismissed that
application and went on with its ruling.
At the last sitting both counsels
argued for and against the application for stay of execution and the Court
adjourned the matter for ruling.
Mr Woyome has filed a number of
legal proceedings in court, with this application being the seventh since the
start of the legal battle to determine his ability to pay the debt owed to the
state.
All his legal attempts have
proved futile as the court keep dismissing his applications for various
reasons.
The court on October 21,
dismissed an earlier application filed by Mr Woyome, to halt the valuation of
his property by the State as part of efforts to retrieve the money, the court
at the time was empanelled by a single judge.
Mr. Woyome is praying the court
to put on hold all processes to reclaim the money from him until a
determination of another related case being heard at the African Court on Human
and Peoples’ Rights.
The Attorney -General was
expected to continue with the oral examination on how, Woyome intends to re-pay
the amount, however, he was not in court on Monday as his counsel explained
that he was unwell.
Ghana News Agency legal news
bulletin indicates that previously, the Counsel for Mr Woyome, Mr Osafo
Boabeng, had filed an application arguing that the writ of execution that the
Attorney General (AG) used for the valuation was illegal.
He argued that the AG failed to
seek consent from the apex court to renew the writ of execution and, therefore,
any action based on that writ was a nullity.
The court, presided over by,
Justice Alfred Anthony Benin, on October 20, dismissed the application saying
the AG did nothing wrong because the writ of execution had not expired and was
effective.
He said the first writ of
execution which was filed on January 9, 2015 was still in effect when the AG
filed for another one on January 6, 2016 and, therefore, the issue of renewal
did not arise.
The court subsequently, adjourned
the matter to October 30, for continuation of the oral examination of Mr Woyome
by the AG.
On October 30, Lawyers for
Woyome, told the court that he was still ill and was unable to attend court.
Mr Buabeng presented yet another
excuse duty document to the single Justice handling the case in his chambers to
support the request of his client to be given more time to make himself
available for his oral examination to continue.
GNA
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