The Court of Appeal has acquitted and discharged the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, and Richard Jakpa, the 3rd accused in the ongoing ambulance case.
This 2:1 decision overturned the previous order from the trial court, which required Dr. Ato Forson and Jakpa to open their defence.
They had been charged with allegedly causing the State a financial loss of €2.37 million in a deal to procure ambulances for the Government of Ghana.
The Court of Appeal’s ruling sets aside the trial court’s directive, delivered by Justice Afia Serwaa Asare Botwe, which had dismissed Ato Forson’s submission of no case and ordered him to open his defence.
Dr. Ato Forson had argued that there was no case for him to answer, but the trial judge initially rejected this submission. Jakpa had similarly failed a similar submission of no case, and has since called several witnesses in his defence.
As a result, Dr. Ato Forson is no longer required to open his defence in the ongoing trial, marking a significant development in the case.
Cassiel Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa, who is a representative for Big Sea, were accused of causing a financial loss of €2.37 million to the State in a deal to purchase 200 ambulances for the country between 2014 and 2016.
Source: https://www.myjoyonline.com/ambulance-case-ato-forson-acquitted-and-discharged/
