The Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, had dragged the Attorney General’s Department to court to retrieve some €47million that the Kufuor government had paid Waterville Holdings BVI to be retrieved.
This wild card by Mr. Amidu comes in the heels of his 2013 victory over businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome who had claimed he got his contract in partnership with Waterville.
Martin Amidu is suing for the retrieval of the money in his capacity as a private citizen.
In the suit, he cites Waterville as second defendant, demanding the apex Court to compel the AG to enforce the June 14, 2013 judgment which said that the contracts that were awarded Waterville to build stadia for the CAN 2008 soccer tournament were not valid because they did not receive Parliamentary approval.
Consequently, any judgment debts that arose from the Kufuor Government’s abrogation of the contracts were baseless, the SC had ruled. This technicality was what the Government used to hunt Woyome down for the Ghc51million that was paid him in judgment debt for that controversial contract.
While the Government was hounding Woyome to cough up the money paid him, there had been total silence over the judgment debt that had been paid Waterville.
It appears Mr. Amidu may be having his work cut out for him as Waterville would most likely fight to retain those monies. Mr. Amidu’s suit was filed earlier this week as critics wonder why he is making that a priority now over his task to chase corrupt public officials.
Registered in the British Virgin Islands, Waterville had been told by actors in the Kufuor Government to go ahead and start to execute the contracts awarded it and let the Government worry about securing the necessary Parliamentary approval.
Waterville had gone to court and forced the then government to pay it for breach of contract. When Martin Amidu went to court in 2013 and secured the Supreme Court judgment to the effect that because the contract had not received Parliamentary approval, it was baseless, it meant that the €47,365,624 paid Waterville was unmerited.
The apex court, as part of its judgment, asked that the Waterville money, just like the Woyome judgment debt be retrieved. Government, however, hounded Woyome but went mute on Waterville apparently because it was not enthused about entering a legal battle with the international company. Waterville had promised to fight at the international court if it came to it.