Mr Woyome failed to show up at the Supreme Court yesterday for a Deputy Attorney-General, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, to orally examine him as to whether he (Woyome) had any means of paying the debt.

Information gathered by the Daily Graphic revealed that Mr Woyome was absent because he was indisposed.

According to sources, lawyer for the embattled businessman, Mr Osafo Buabeng, presented a medical report to the presiding judge, Mr Justice Anthony Alfred Benin, in chambers, requesting more time for his client to recover before heading back to court.

Background

The Supreme Court, on July 29, 2014, ordered Mr Woyome to refund GH¢51.2 million to the state on the grounds that he got the money out of unconstitutional and invalid contracts between the state and Waterville Holdings Limited in 2006 for the construction of stadia for CAN 2008.

The court held that the contracts upon which Mr Woyome made and received the claim were in contravention of Article 181 (5) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which requires such contracts to be laid before and approved by Parliament.

On March 1, 2016, Mr Woyome prayed the court to give him three years to pay back the money but the court declined to grant his wish.

He, however, refunded GH¢4 million in November 2016 and promised to pay the outstanding balance by quarterly instalments of GH¢5 million, commencing April 1, 2017.

That did not materialise after the businessman initiated a litany of legal cases at the Supreme Court to support his case, which were all dismissed.

Apart from fighting his cases in the country, Mr Woyome also sought relief from the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) based in Paris, France, and the African Court of Justice based in Arusha, Tanzania.

In August, 2017, the ICC threw out his case on the basis that he failed to properly invoke its jurisdiction.

His case at the African Court of Justice is yet to be determined.