Court grants Attorney General’s request to amend writ in suit against Woyome
The Commercial Division of the High Court on Wednesday granted the Attorney General (AG) the request to amend its writ and statement of claim which sought to set aside the consent judgment awarded to Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome.
It also directed the AG to serve Mr Woyome (defendant) with a copy of the writ within four days while Mr Woyome had seven days to file a defence to the AG’s statement.
The AG has three days to response to the defence claim.
The court’s ruling follows an earlier application filed by the AG asking the court to grant them leave to amend their previous statement filed which intended to reverse the judgement debt awarded to Mr Woyome.
The court presided over by Mrs Justice Barbara Ackah-Ayensu awarded a cost of GH¢2,000 against the AG for delaying and wasting the court’s time at the previous sitting.
It said the court granted the reliefs sought by the AG because the defence did not oppose the AG’s amended writ that the consent judgment awarded to Mr Woyome was procured by fraud.
Mrs Justice Ackah-Ayensu said the court chose to stay away from defence assertion that the AG’s claim that the contract between Waterville and the Government was an international transaction and needed Parliamentary approval because this could lead the court in determining the merits of the case when the court had not conducted a full trial into the matter.
On January 16, the former Attorney General, Mr Martin A.,B.K. Amidu, filed an affidavit to amend an earlier writ praying the court to set aside a consent judgment awarded to Mr Woyome, which the AG alleged was procured through fraud.
Mr Amidu said the new information that had come to the AG’s attention, required an amendment to the writ of summons and statement of claim filed on August 18, 2010.
When Mrs Justice Ackah-Ayensu, the trial judge asked the defence why it had taken them so long to respond to the AG’s amended writ and serve them a copy, Mrs Dora Acquaye Nortey, who represented Mr Robertson Kpatsa, Counsel for Mr Woyome said the case had many sides and that she was only holding brief for her senior colleague.
Mrs Justice Ackah-Ayensu warned the defence not to unduly delay the process and cautioned that “this should be their last time”.
It would be recalled that Mr Amidu in his amended writ said it had come to the AG’s attention that Mr Woyome lacked the legal capacity to maintain his claim against the AG because there was no contract between Mr Woyome and the Government of Ghana upon which Mr Woyome could have maintained any cause of action in the suit.
Source: GNA