Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, a former Deputy Minister for Finance and Minority Leader in Parliament, claims that the Attorney General (A-G) has not provided sufficient evidence to identify him as the source of the Republic’s €2,370,000.00 in financial losses related to ambulances.
He claims that the prosecution’s evidence is insufficient to warrant him opening his defense.
The Legislator argued that the A-G could not establish prima facie case to support the claim that Dr. Ato Forson intentionally misappropriated public property and caused financial loss to the Republic of Ghana in a 38-page written “submission of no case to answer” on March 16, 2023.
The lead counsel asserts that Dr. Forson, the first accused (A1), did not authorize the creation of Letters of Credit (LCs), which led to the current trial.
He argued that the Republic could not have lost money as a result of A1, especially since LCs do not require payment on their own.
In a lengthy written submission to the Financial and Economic Division of the Accra High Court, Dr. Bamba argued that the A-G attempted to sabotage A1 by claiming that the ambulance contract was not approved by parliament.
The Counsel stated that the A-G’s claim lacked legal foundation and should be ignored by the court, which is headed by Justice Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe, a Justice of the Court of Appeal with additional authority over the High Court.
In his submission, at paragraph 63, he stated: The Attorney General’s legal opinion asserts that the ambulance contract was valid and enforceable because all governmental approvals had been sought, but the prosecution has provided no convincing rebuttal evidence.
“They bore the burden of providing evidence from parliament to show there was no such approval, but failed if prosecution was desirous of proving the absence of parliamentary approval for the ambulance contract.”
He basically said that the prosecution’s case does not include the lack of approval from parliament and that they could not provide any evidence to support this claim.
He further contended that since LCs don’t comprise installments, installments under the LC were approved by the Service of Wellbeing and not the primary blamed.
A1 Counsel explained that Ghana International Bank was given permission to pay Big Sea, the supplier of the ambulances, after the Ministry of Health (MoH) approved the documents submitted to Big Sea.
Dr Bamba further contended that A1 marked the LC in the limit as a representative priest, which is perceived by the 1992 Constitution in Article 79(1) which peruses: ” In order to assist the minister in carrying out his responsibilities, the president appoints one or more deputy ministers with the prior approval of parliament and in consultation with a Minister of State.
As a result, he claimed that Seth Terkper, the then-Finance Minister, had submitted a statement to the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) acknowledging the Ministry’s request to establish LCs in order to purchase ambulances.
Despite the fact that “the prosecution made no attempt to call Seth Terkper as a witness in order to deny the fact that he or the Ministry of Finance authorised 1st accused person to author Exhibit A and B1,” he stated that Mr. Terkper’s statement had been tendered in evidence without the prosecution raising any objections.
In addition, Dr. Bamba stated to the court: Contrary to what is stated in the specifics of the offense in Counts 1 and 5, which claim that AI “authorised” or “caused” the establishment of irrevocable letters of credit, the evidence that is on record makes it abundantly clear that Al neither “authorised” nor “caused” the establishment of irrevocable letters of credit, nor did AI act in any manner that was not in accordance with the law. According to Exhibit 5 for Al, Exhibits A and B1, which bear the signature of AI, were sent to the Bank of Ghana with the authority of and on behalf of the Minister of Finance.
Dr. Ato Forson is on trial with Sylvester Anemana, the MoH’s former chief director (A2), and Richard Japka, a businessman and Big Sea Trading Limited’s local representative (A3).
In counts one and five, the legislator is accused of intentionally misusing public property in violation of section 1(2) of the Public Protection Act of 1977 (SMCD 140), both of which violate section 179A(3)(a) of the Criminal Offences Act of 1960 (Act 29).
The specifics of the offense under count 1 were that Cassiel Ato Forson knowingly caused the Republic of Ghana a financial loss of €2,370,000.00 between August 2014 and April 2016 in Accra, which is located in the Greater Accra Region. He did this by authorizing the establishment of irrevocable letters of credit valued at €3,950,000.00. Out of those letters, he paid Big Sea General Trading Ltd. (sic) €2,370,000.00 for the supply of vehicles posing as ambulances without
On count “5,” A1 intentionally misappropriated € 2,370,000 in public property between August 2014 and April 2016 in Accra, which is in the Greater Accra Region of the Republic of Ghana. This was accomplished by establishing irrevocable letters of credit against the Ministry of Health’s budget in favor of Big Sea General Trading Ltd (sic) for the supply of vehicles posing as ambulances without proper authorization.
In light of this, his attorney informed the court that Section 173 of the Act imposes a mandatory duty on the court to evaluate the evidence and determine whether A1 must open his defense.
He pleaded with the court to release A1 because the prosecution has provided insufficiently solid pieces of evidence.
The Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, responded by telling the court that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence to force A1 and the other accused individuals to open their defense.
He argued that the prosecution has presented documents and testimony from witnesses to establish a prima facie case.
He claims that on December 22, 2011, the Cabinet approved the purchase of 200 ambulances for the National Ambulance Service (NAS) with the assistance of a €15,800,000 loan facility from Stannic Bank.
However, the A-G’s written submission states that Big Sea General Trading Limited in the United Arab Emirates (UEA) was not mentioned in the memorandum submitted to parliament or its approval for the financing agreement between Stannic Bank and the Ghanaian government on November 1, 2012, for the purchase of 200 ambulances.
He fought that the Public Arraignment Authority (PPA) endorsed single-obtained commitment of Large Ocean to supply the 200 rescue vehicle through Sylvester Anemana’s bogus portrayal.
As a result, Big Sea and the Ghanaian government signed a formal agreement through the Ministry of Health to provide 200 ambulances at an estimated cost of €15,800,000.00.
He stated that on August 7, 2014, he urgently requested the establishment of Letters of Credit for the supply of 50 ambulances at a cost of €3,950,000.00, or 25% of the total cost, in favor of Big Sea, establishing Dr. Forson’s criminal involvement.
In a similar vein, it was alleged that A1 wrote to the Controller and Accountant General (CAG) authorizing the release of GH806,688.75 to the Ministry of Health in order to enable it to pay the bank fees associated with the establishment of the LC on August 12 of the same year.
He added that MoH also authorized the establishment of an irrevocable transfer of the LC in the amount of €3,950,000.00 in favor of Big Sea in a letter to the Bank of Ghana on August 14 based on these letters.
In contrast to the 50 ambulances that Big Sea and MoH had agreed to provide, only 20 were ready for shipment, and to make matters worse, they arrived in two batches with numerous defects.
Mr. Dame said that the third shipment was the same as the other two, and the MoH Minister at the time said that the vehicles do meet specifications.
Based on these factors, the A-G informed the court that A1 must answer for authorizing an irrevocable LC with a value of €3,950,000.00 and a payment to Big Sea of €2,370,000, resulting in a loss for the Republic.
“We have established clearly, under submissions on count one that Al’s authorisation for LCs to be issued as payment for the vehicles purporting to be ambulances was highly unwarranted and, indeed, reckless, having regard to the circumstances under which the authorisation for payment was made,” he added. Additionally, he stated that A1 was responsible for the establishment of the LCs without any authorization.
The A-G strongly believes that a prima facie case has been made against each and every accused person, requiring the court to order them to open their defense.
