The Speaker of Parliament of Ghana, Rt. Honourable Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has bemoaned the prosecution of the Minority Leader, Honorable Cassiel Ato Forson by the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice.
According to the Speaker of Parliament, the prosecution of the ambulance case against the Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson appears to be a ‘gambling’ game by the government.
Mr Bagbin noted that even though the law is supposed to be made to work, it is not supposed to be done in a way or a manner that appears to be in the form of a ‘gamble’ which according to him is happening in the case against the former Deputy Minister of Finance Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.
Mr Bagbin decried of the development while interacting with the spouse and family of the late former Majority Leader in Parliament, Felix Kwasi Owusu-Adjapong to commiserate with them.
“The Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu indicated to me that he had to come ahead, he had some challenges to attend to in Kumasi so he will not be available. The Minority Leader, unfortunately, is being persecuted so on a number of these occasions he can’t be with us because he is appearing in court, as of now, he is in court being tried. It is not that we don’t want the rule of law to apply, we all want it to apply but where prosecution is just a gamble, ‘I may win or I may not win but let me do it’, I will not prescribe that for any politician because as a leader you always have to take the risk, you could get it right, you could get it catastrophically wrong”.
Alban Kingsford Suleman Bagbin
Political Prosecution And Its Effect On Public Service
Again, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Suleman Bagbin also indicated that the prosecution of theMinority Leader which appears to be politically motivated could demoralize public officers in their line of duty.
According to Ghana’s 8th times serving Member of Parliament, such a situation could undermine the courage of public officers to take up decisions in the interest of the country.
“Could you be prosecuted because of that? Then there will be tribulation, nobody will have the courage to come out boldly and take decisions where things are really hard. These are some of the things that we have to take on board as we continue to work together in Ghana. It happens all over the world, it is not only Ghana, these things happen worldwide, you can go to the UK and, the US, and they don’t go into prosecution, there are other ways of handling these things. He has been absent the day we were going to President Kufuor’s place he was in court, and today too he is in court.”
Alban Kingsford Suleman Bagbin
Meanwhile, the Former Finance Minister under the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama administration, Seth Terkper in his testimony in the case against the Minority leader, Honorable Ato Forson, has told the Economic and Financial Court in Accra, that he directed his then Deputy Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, to write to the Bank of Ghana requesting for Letters of Credit to be set up in favour of Big Sea General Trading Ltd of Dubai, for the supply of 30 ambulances for Ghana.
The Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, Dr. Sylvester Anemana a former Chief Director of the Ministry of Health and Businessman, Richard Jakpa are standing trial in connection with the importation of the 30 ambulances said to be defective.
Dr Ato Forson has been charged with two counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state by causing Letters of Credit to be established in favour of Big Sea for the supply of ambulances without due cause and authorization.
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