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The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament Thursday indicated its intention to request the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to arrest a businessman, Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome and bring him before the committee at a date to be appointed. The Chairman of the PAC, Mr Albert-Kan-Dapaah issued the order, following the refusal of the Mr Woyome to appear before the committee after he had been issued with a writ of summons to do so. According to Mr Dapaah, Mr Woyome was the chief witness in a matter before the committee over the payment of GHC 51 million by the government to him which had been queried by the Auditor-General in the 2010 Report on the Consolidated Fund. He explained that the committee, earlier on, invited Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, and Mr Woyome. Mr Dapaah stated that he got letters from both ministries explaining that it would be inappropriate for them to appear before the committee since the subject matter under investigation was already before a law court. He added that the committee also received a letter from Oseawuo Chambers and Co, lawyers for Mr Woyome, which also gave similar reason to decline the invitation from the committee. Mr Dapaah said upon receipt of the replies, the committee decided to take advantage given to the committee under the 1992 Constitution to summon the witnesses to compel them to appear before the committee despite the fact that the issue was before the law court. �The intention was that once we summon you, we can then talk about any objection to the invitation by the committee. It was not acceptable to us for the witnesses to refuse our invitation even though we have powers under the Constitution to do so�. Mr Dapaah said mandate and powers of the PAC were based on the 1992 Constitution and quoted Article 103 (3) to buttress his point. Article 103 (3) states that �Committees of Parliament shall be charged with such functions, including the investigation and inquiry into the activities and administration of ministries and departments as Parliament may determine, and such investigation and inquiries may extend to proposals for legislation�. Again Article 103 (6) states that �A committee appointed under this article shall have the powers, rights and privileges of the High Court or a Justice of the High Court at a trial for (a) enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath, affirmation or otherwise�. Mr Kan-Dapaah, therefore, expressed the appreciation of the committee to a Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Anthony Gyambiby, and officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning for responding to the summons by the committee, even though they held a contrary view. He stated that it was unfortunate that after issuing summon to Mr Woyome and drawing his attention to Article 103 (3) and (6), he had refused to appear before the committee. Mr Kan-Dapaah said, with the absence of the chief principal witness, the committee would be unable to deal with the matter today since, in his absence, not much could be done as far as the payment of the amount was concerned. �I am afraid that at this juncture I have to use the powers available to the committee to write to the IGP to bring Mr Woyome to appear before the committee at a date that the committee will decide�, he said. Mr Gyambiby said even though he had appeared before the committee, he still held the view that it was inappropriate for the committee sit on the issue which was before a court, but Mr Kan-Dapaah said that issue would be discussed at a later date.