On March 30, 2023, the Accra High Court will determine whether the Attorney-General (A-G) has presented enough evidence to allow Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, a former deputy minister of finance, and two other people who have been charged with inflicting financial damage to the state, to begin their defense.
Once the prosecution rested its case after calling five witnesses, the former Deputy Minister submitted a no-case submission.
Dr. Forson, who is currently the Minority Leader in Parliament, is on trial with Richard Jakpa, a businessman, and Sylvester Anemana, a former Chief Director of the Ministry of Health.
The three are accused of costing the government €2.37 million in a deal to buy 200 ambulances for the nation. "No case,"
A privilege afforded to defendants under Section 173 of the Criminal and Other Offenses Act (Procedure) Act, 1960 is to make a submission of no case (Act 30).
It enables defendants to persuade a judge that the prosecution did not establish sufficient evidence to support the opening of their defense.
If a trial judge decides that a submission of no case has validity, the accused are released; but, if not, they are instructed to present their defense.
Arguments
While Dr. Forson claims that the prosecution failed to present any convincing evidence to require him to defend himself, the solicitor general, Godfred Yeboah Dame, believes that he had established a prima facie case against Dr. Forson.
Thus, he has requested that the court, which is being presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, a Court of Appeal judge who also serves as a High Court judge, exonerate and discharge him.
According to Section 173 of Act 30, the prosecution's evidence does not have enough strength or quality to support a case against Dr. Forson.
Hence, we ask the court to clear Dr. Forson of all charges and discharge him on both counts, as Dr. Forson stated in his submission of no case.
Assurances of credit
Apart from the fact that their client never engaged in any criminal activity that resulted in the claimed financial loss to the state, the defense attorneys said that the assertion that Dr. Forson authorized or caused irreparably was also untrue for letters of credit (LC) to be established for the ambulances.
The letter with Dr. Forson's signature asking for the creation of the LC was sent to the Bank of Ghana with the approval of and on behalf of the Minister of Finance, according to Abdul Baasit Aziz Bamba, the head of Dr. Forson's legal team. He added that:
In light of this, it is "patently incorrect" to assert that Dr. Forson created or authorized the formation of the LC, even if it was assumed for the sake of argument (which is rejected) that he did.
The ministry had sought the creation of the LC, the solicitor said, and the former minister of finance, Seth Terkper, had verified this in a document presented to the court as an exhibit.
The prosecution's witnesses from the Ambulance Service, according to Mr. Bamba, testified in court that the claimed flaws in the imported ambulances could be addressed.
Counsel added that the current Health Minister, who gave testimony on the prosecution's side, acknowledged that it was common for a constable to sign a letter for and on behalf of the minister because the latter did not personally bear responsibility for the letter's contents.
"We further submit that the prosecution failed to introduce any evidence that even remotely suggested that Dr. Forson acted intentionally, recklessly, or negligently to cause financial loss to the Republic in light of the elements of willfully causing financial loss to the Republic as set out in the case of Republic v. Ibrahim & Others.
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