The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Marrietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, has saved Ghana nearly a billion dollars in blocking fraudulent judgement debt applications and thus deserves immense credit, President John Dramani Mahama has said.
The President was speaking Wednesday night during his turn at the GBC organised Presidential encounters, and speaking about recent criticisms of the AG over her handling of the Woyome case, said they were unwarranted and instead heaped praises on her.
“I think the Attorney General has done a phenomenal job. I mean if you look at the amount of money she’s saved us from judgement debt, that lady deserves a national honour,” President Mahama said.
Acording to the President, the state was paying out judgement debts willy-nilly and losing a lot of monies, but Mrs Appiah-Oppong stopped that and fought a lot of the claims brought against government, saving the state a lot of money.
“I mean she saved this country nearly a billion dollars in judgement debts by fighting and contesting every case. I gave her a directive…that every judgement debt case, you fight it and so she has fought it,” he continued.
“There were a lot of fraudulent claims; people conniving with government officials, taking documents and hiding them, re-filing for compensation, suing government in court. I mean false contract. I mean I set up a commission to investigate…you should read the commission’s report,” he added.
The Attorney General has come under considerable public criticism for her handling of the Woyome judgement debt case, especially her inability to retrieve the Ghc 51.2m judgement debt paid the businessman – despite a over a year old Supreme Court judgement ordering the businessman to pay back the money. She came under increasingly more pressure after she withdrew a motion to examine the businessman to determine how the money was spent – a case that has since been taken over, and won, by former Attorney General Martin Amidu.