Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson through his lawyers have petitioned the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice GertrudeTorkornoo, requesting a live broadcast of subsequent proceedings of the ongoing Ambulance Trial.
The request, according to the lawyers, is in the interest of transparency and accountability in order to advance the course of justice for all parties in the trial after the National Democratic Congress (NDC) released an audio exposing an alleged misconduct of the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame,
The lawyers argue that, “allegations against the Attorney-General are deeply concerning. If true, they represent a serious breach of public trust and a threat to the integrity of our judicial system”, hence the need for a live broadcast of proceedings.
“We write to formally request the live broadcast of all subsequent court proceedings in the case of the Republic vs. Cassiel Ato Forson & 2 others (case No. CR/0198/2022)”, a letter from lawyers to the Chief Justice noted.
Background
Dr. Ato Forson, a former Deputy Minister of Finance, in the erstwhile Mahama government is standing trial with a former Chief Director of the Ministry of Health, Dr Sylvester Anemana, and businessman Richard Jakpa for allegedly causing financial loss to the tune of 2.37 million euros in the deal to purchase some ambulances for the country between 2014 and 2016.
They have all pleaded not guilty to five counts of abetment to willfully cause financial loss to the state, willfully causing financial loss to the state, contravention of the Public Procurement Act, and intentionally misapplying public property.
The case received some level of prominence when the third accused, Richard Jakpa, made certain allegations against the Attorney-General instructing him to implicate Dr. Ato Forson.
See full letter below
