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The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority in Parliament is calling for the head of former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Betty Mould-Iddrisu, for recklessly authorizing the payment of GH�58 million to National Democratic Congress (NDC) self-styled financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome as judgment debt. Addressing a press conference in Parliament House yesterday, Minority Leader Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu asked President John Evans Atta Mills to show Mrs Mould-Iddrisu, currently Minister of Education, the exit route for being �negligent, reckless and unprofessional� in the handling of the court case leading to the payment of GH�58 million to Mr Woyome for no work done. Mr Mensah-Bonsu wondered why Mr Woyome could end up pocketing GH�58 million when the court had ordered the payment of GH�41.8million, if there was no State connivance of a sort. According to the Auditor General�s report for the year ending 2010, Mr Woyome received GH�41,811,480.59 on June 4, 2010 as a �settlement of claim involving rehabilitation of three stadia� and another payment of GH�17,094,493.54 on September 22, 2010; bringing the total payment to the NDC bankroller to GH�58 million for no work done. The payment to Mr Woyome, according to the Minority, was nothing short of fraud, and a case of causing financial loss to the state. Woyome, a self-styled financier of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), had no contract with the Government of Ghana (GoG) because he never bid in his personal capacity and or entered into any contract with the government to construct any stadium in Ghana between 2001 and 2006. Mr Mensah-Bonsu, flanked by the Minority leadership, said it was strange that Betty would allow the case to go on without putting up a defence to challenge the fraudulent claims made by Woyome. �Through Mrs. Mould-Iddrisu�s negligence and admission of mistake, Alfred Woyome obtained judgment of GH�105.5m and costs of GH�25,000.00 against the State on 24th May, 2010. This amount is over one trillion cedis,� he said. Betty had not spoken since the story of the dubious payment broke; but her deputy at the Justice Ministry at the time, Ebo Barton-Odro, who is still at post, said it was a bad case and that the state had no defence. The Minority Leader therefore called on President Mills to probe the payment made to the NDC financier, describing the amount of money as the �single largest loss� to Ghana since independence. �We demand investigations into this fraudulent contract,� he insisted, explaining that �Woyome sued for services rendered in 2001 when the NPP government hadn�t bid for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations rights�. Mr Woyome, on April 19, 2010, took a legal action against the government of Ghana, claiming various sums of money amounting to over GH�102 million in damages for breach of contract in the rehabilitation of three stadia- the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium and El Wak Stadium in Accra and the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi for the hosting of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. The Minority Leader said it was strange that Woyome could go to court when no contract was awarded him and the then Minister would say that there was no defence after filing for appearance. Tracing the genesis of the projects, he said a three-member committee was appointed on July 5, 2005 and chaired by the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Lionel Van Lare Dosoo, to review, evaluate and make recommendations on financial proposals made by eight short-listed companies for the construction and rehabilitation of the five stadia for the CAN 2008 tournament in Ghana. VAMED Engineering Company was among the shortlisted companies but its bid was rejected. VAMED, an Austrian firm, the Minority Leader said, had proposed to raise funding of about �764, 1l7, 646 from Bank of Austria for the project and Alfred Woyome, then Deputy Honorary Consul for Austria in Ghana, was part of the negotiating team of VAMED. �The Van Lare Dosoo Committee advised the GoG that the conditions and processes to be met by both GoG and VAMED could span three to four months, thus a potential source of delay. Given the urgency of the project, the Committee further recommended that the GoG should have an alternative option of securing its own line of funding. �On 22nd August, 2005, the then Ministry of Education and Sports informed VAMED that it was discontinuing with the tendering process due to the time constraints and the high financial commitments implied in the submissions. �On August 27, 2005, Waterville Holdings Limited (BVI), said to be part of the VAMED consortium which also included Micheletti and Co limited, responded to the letter by the Ministry of Education and Sports and requested for negotiations to resolve what they regarded as �breach of process.� Bank of Austria subsequently declined to fund the project,� the Minority Leader said. �Eventually, Waterville Holdings could not raise the funds and collaborated with Micheletti and Co to build the Ohene Djan, Accra and El-Wak stadia, and with CONSAR Limited to build Baba Yara stadium, Kumasi,� he said. He explained that letters from the then Attorney General, Joe Ghartey, dated August 1, 2006 and from the Office of the President dated October 24, 2008, confirmed that government had no claims to settle with any other party or individual after Micheletti and CONSAR had agreed to pay amounts outstanding to Waterville. �Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome was neither known as a shareholder nor Director of the said firm and had never made any claim in respect of the construction of stadia from 2001 to 2006; nor did the government deal with him in his personal capacity. Indeed the construction of the stadia started in 2006 and not in 2001,� he emphasised. He said it had become obvious that the Woyome source of funding for the various NDC projects, earning the title of �bankroller�, was from the dubious payment he received from Betty Mould-Iddrisu. The Minority therefore asked for �investigations into this manifestly fraudulent conduct in this stadia saga and possible prosecution for defrauding the Republic of Ghana through misrepresentation and the dubious claims made in obtaining judgment default of defence�. On the request made by President Mills for report on the payment, the NPP MPs said it was the most unfortunate statement made in the whole matter. �The President is informed when colossal sums are being paid by the State. The report the President is asking for is clearly a smokescreen seeking to buy time and once again protect one of his own,� he said. Citing the Mabey and Johnson bribery scandal involving George Sipa Yankey, then Minister of Health, Mr Kyei Mensah Bonsu said he was removed as a Minister only to be rewarded with �arguably a larger portfolio at least in terms of money, managing the $3billion Chinese loan�. �In Betty Mould-Iddrisu�s case, the President is seeking to cover up with a report. �The President, in our view, given the sequence of events, is aware and part of the grand scheme of corruption by either omission or commission. Behind the facade of a seemingly gentle gait of the President is rot of gargantuan corruption and arrogance,� he stated. Meanwhile, President Mills is said to have ordered the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the payment to Vamed/Waterville Engineering and Woyome as judgment debt.