After calling three witnesses, Parliament’s Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson, has wrapped up his defense in the case of “willfully causing financial loss to the state.”
He is on trial with Richard Jakpa and Sylvester Anemana, the other accused parties.
In his initial statement to the court, Dr. Ato Forson stated that he planned to call nine witnesses, including prominent individuals like Mr. Alex Segbefia, a former Health Minister, Dr. Henry Akpenamawu Kofi Wampah, a former Bank of Ghana Governor, and Mr. Seidu Kotomah, a former Controller and Accountant-General.
On Thursday, November 16, 2023, however, Godwin Tamakloe, Ato Forson’s attorney, announced a shift in tactics during the court session.
“The first accused wishes to inform the court that he is calling no further witness and that he is closing his case,” stated Mr. Tamakloe.
During his defense, Cassiel Ato Forson called three witnesses to bolster his case: Seth Terkper, the former finance minister under John Mahama, Alex Mould, the former CEO of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), and Henry Myles Mills from Stanbic Bank.
The decision of the defense team was acknowledged by Justice Afia Serwaa Asare Botwe, a Justice of the Court of Appeal with additional duties as a High Court Judge. She then gave the go-ahead for the second accused, Dr. Sylvester Anemana, a former senior official at the Ministry of Health, to start presenting his defense.
Meanwhile, the government’s Budget Statement and Economic Policy for the 2024 fiscal year have been dubbed a “true definition of an empty budget” by the Minority in Parliament.
According to Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the budget was “cruel, insensitive, and out of touch” with the reality faced by the average Ghanaian and businesses, who would prefer to face more hardships and “suffocating taxes.”
The members of the economic management team, headed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, were accused by the Minority of abandoning a bankrupt economy.
