“The Minority Leader is being persecuted” -Alban Bagbin comments on the legal charges facing Ato Forson
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has raised concerns over what he describes as the persecution of the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, in an ongoing legal case.
Dr. Forson, along with two others, is currently facing charges related to causing financial loss to the state in the purchase of 50 defective ambulances.
The case against the Minority Leader alleges that he requested letters of credit amounting to €2.3 million, which formed the basis for payment for the ambulances, without proper authorization. Dr. Forson has vehemently denied these claims.
During a visit to the family of the late former Majority Leader in Parliament, Felix Owusu-Adjapong, Speaker Bagbin voiced his concerns, describing the prosecution of the Minority Leader as an act of political persecution.
Alban Bagbin remarked, “the Minority Leader is being persecuted. On a number of occasions, he has been unable to join us in Parliament because he is appearing in court. As I speak to you, he is 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”, he added.
In a recent development, Seth Terkper, the former Minister of Finance, provided testimony in favor of Dr. Ato Forson. Terkper asserted that, contrary to the state’s claims, Dr. Forson had acted with his express approval in requesting the Bank of Ghana to establish letters of credit.
Mr Terper’s witness statement emphasized, “For the avoidance of doubt, I state again that, I as the then Minister of Finance, authorized A1 (Dr. Ato Forson) to request the Bank of Ghana to set up the LC (Letters of Credit) with the sole objective of avoiding potential financial liability for the Government.”
However, during cross-examination, the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, sought to challenge Seth Terkper’s claims by requesting that he provide documents proving his authorization to Dr. Ato Forson.
In response, Terkper explained that the authorization had followed advice from the Attorney General’s department, which had forwarded a letter from the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Finance, urging compliance with the contract terms. These letters were subsequently referred to the legal department of the Ministry of Finance.
