Prez Mahama Must Stop Tony Lithur From Representing Him

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Created on Wednesday, 19 June 2013 00:00

Prez Mahama Must Stop Tony Lithur From Representing Him

17 June 2013

Outspoken NPP Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, wants Lawyer Tony Lithur, Lead counsel for the First Respondent in the election petition suit at the Supreme Court challenging the legitimacy of President Mahama, to be debarred.

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His reason being that President Mahama's counsel in the on-going election petition case, at a point in time represented Austro-invest and somewhat connived embattled businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome and Waterville BV Holdings, which led to the state paying huges sums of monies to the two as judgement debts.

Waterville Holdings, one of the companies which spearheaded the construction of some stadia in Ghana ahead of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, was paid the award after dragging the Government of Ghana to Court in 2009. But in a unanimous decision by a nine-member Bench on Friday June 14, 2013, the Court ruled that Waterville Holdings was not deserving of the judgment award and asked government to take steps to retrieve over €40 million illegally paid to Waterville Holdings.

The directives followed information provided by former Attorney General and self acclaimed ‘Citizen Vigilante’ to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, February 20 that Astro-Invest had been liquidated in Switzerland since July 26, 2011.

TONY LITHUR AND ASTRO-INVEST

In fact at the time Mr. Tony Lithur went to court in the name of Astro-Invest, the Swiss registered company to pursue ‘their claim’, he was well aware the company had folded up.

The AG’s office was on Dec 9th 2011 served with an application for preservation and or interlocutory injunction by Tony Lithur, the solicitor for Astro Invest; praying the High Court to compel Alfred Woyome to pay to the court the amount of GH5,068,960.08 being its purported portion of the compensation thereby committing fraud on the government of Ghana and the Judiciary as the Company Astro-Invest was at that time, a ‘ghost company’.

Tony Lithur, according to "The Republic" newspaper, filed a suit against Business Man Alfred Agbesi Woyome in the name of a Swiss-registered company Astro-Invest, soon after the report became rife that Mr. Woyome obtained an amount of GH51million Cedis from the state as judgment debt.

Among other things, Lawyer Tony Lithur sought in relief, an order compelling Woyome to pay to Astro-Invest, the sum of GHC5,068,960.08 being their share in a claim allegedly put forward by the consortium to the Government of Ghana; interest on the said sum of GHC 5,068,960.08 from March 2010 till the date of final payment and a cost including Solicitor’s fees.

Tony Lithur also asked for an order to compel Woyome to pay his ‘ghost’ client with interest and an agreed portion of any further sums successfully claimed and received by Mr. Woyome from the government of Ghana.

According to Mr. Lithur, in or about 2005/2006, Woyome and Astro-Invest, “working as a consortium under a company known as Waterville (“the Consortium”), took part in an international competitive bid by the Government of Ghana aimed at sourcing funding for, and the construction of stadia for CAN 2008, an African inter-country football competition, scheduled to be hosted in 2008 in identified regions in Ghana.”

Tony Lithur stated in his claim, thus: “The Contract for the funding and construction of stadia was awarded to the consortium, but, subsequently, unlawfully abrogated by the Government of Ghana, and re-awarded to Chinese company.”

“The Consortium was nevertheless retained by the Government of Ghana and given another contract to fund and construct some other stadia. The Government of Ghana unlawfully terminated the contracts for those stadia as well”, Lithur further stated.

THE FACTS OF THE AUSTRO-INVEST ISSUE:

Austro-Invest entered into an agreement with Mr. Woyome when the Kufour Government announced an international bid for the CAN 2008 event, after that same Government cancelled fourteen (14) contracts signed with various companies by the then Minister for Sports, Rashid Bawa with the approval of the late Kwadzo Baah Wiredu for the same purpose of putting up stadia for the CAN 2008 tournament.

All these agreements were on supplier contract basis, and were with companies Mr. Woyome worked with for the financing of the projects under the CAN 2008 tournament.

The agreement with Austro-Invest was for syndication only.

But Woyome’s claim revealed that Austro-Invest did not do the syndication itself, hence his refusal to give them any amount directly. Instead, he (Mr. Woyome) allegedly paid those who did the syndication directly even before he went to court for the refund of his cost, lost profit, etc, which was duly granted.

After the court had granted the reliefs of Mr. Woyome, Government of Ghana opted to negotiate and signed a compromised agreement with Mr. Woyome of the judgment debt obtained which was filed and adopted as a consent judgment.

In the said agreement, Mr. Woyome gave up GH¢ 54, 000,000.00 (Fifty Four Million Ghana Cedis) which represented his lost profit and interest on the principal to the state.

Meanwhile, before the Government brought a criminal case against Mr. Woyome, Mr. Tony Lithur went to court to discontinue the suit of Austro Invest against Mr. Woyome, with liberty to come back; meaning the discontinuation was not total and conclusive, but a suspension, claims the Republic newspaper.

It is for this and many other reasons that the Assin North MP is accusing Tony Lithur of “dishonesty”, pointing out that his conduct and role in the whole episode leaves the judicial authorities the only option of barring him (Lithur) from appearing before the court.

He noted that it would be appropriate to even stop him from attending the current Supreme Court trial.

“President Mahama must tell Tony Lithur to step aside as his counsel in court. He must not be allowed to even step inside the courtroom. He has been so dishonest and unfair to this country… he was part of the lawyers that connived with (Austro-invest), Woyome and Waterville to take that huge sum of monies from this poor country”, Ken Agyapong claimed.

Source: Chris Joe Quaicoe/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana with some files from The Republic