Contrary to what the NDC has strenuously tried to make Ghanaians believe in respect of the ongoing criminal trial of Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa, the emerging facts of the case show clearly that the two accused persons shortchanged Ghana in the botched ambulance transaction, occasioning a huge financial loss to the state.
First of all, documentary evidence tendered in court shows that Big Sea, the Dubai-based company that was engaged by the NDC government to supply the 200 ambulances and which had Jakpa as its local agent, was unknown to parliamentary approval processes.
In other words, the specific transaction entered with Big Sea, which was engineered by the accused persons, had no parliamentary approval as required by Article 181(5) of the constitution, therefore making the transaction unlawful and of no effect.
Beyond that, the Attorney General had presented to the court a letter written by the then minister of health under the NDC administration, Sherry Aryittey, instructing Big Sea not to supply the ambulances because there was no valid contract regarding the transaction, and also informing them that the Ministry of Health did not have funds to establish the letters of credit (LCs) for purposes of paying for the transaction.
Despite this, Ato Forson, as deputy minister of finance, authorised payment for the ambulances without any basis and directed the amount to be charged to the Ministry of Health’s account.
The vehicles that were supplied by Big Sea pursuant to Ato Forson’s directives were fundamentally defective and not fit to be used as ambulances. The vans were so ordinary and defective that they could not even be used as trotros.
The defective nature of the vans was confirmed by a letter written by the then minister of health, Alex Segbefia, and other assessments by the National Ambulance Service (NAS). It was on this basis that the vans were never used even by the John Mahama administration, because they were just not fit for use as ambulances.
That is the cardinal sin committed by Ato Forson and his conspirators, including Richard Jakpa, against the Republic.
It is this daylight stealing of the taxpayers’ money that the current learned Attorney General, Godfred Dame, is bent on fighting through this prosecution. Fortunately, the AG, as ruled by the court, has been able to establish a solid case against all the accused persons.
The accused persons have tried on many occasions to plead with the AG to discontinue the prosecution. The AG had to contend with pressure from every angle, including the former president John Mahama, who specifically maintained the discontinuation of the ambulance trial as a condition to get the co-operation of NDC MPs.
Having been unsuccessful in getting the AG to drop the charges against them, the accused persons then resorted to using these malicious orchestrations targeted at destroying the enviable reputation of the AG. Richard Jakpa is thus being used as a hired mercenary to exploit the relationship between the AG and his own cousin Justice Yonny Kulendi to get the accused persons to escape accountability.
However, the AG remains focused on the delivery of his work for the good people of Ghana, and he shall succeed, Insha Allah.
Iddi Muhayu-Deen, Esq
The writer is a member of the NPP national communications team
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