Trial of former Deputy Finance Minister adjourned to July 21
The Health Minister, who started his evidence in chief on June 28, 2022, led by the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame has said that he noticed that ambulances were supposedly procured by the Ministry of Health, but had not been delivered.
The High Court (Financial and Economic Division) has adjourned to July 21, 2022, a case involving a former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, and 2 others.
This was necessitated by the inability of the Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyemang Manu to make it to the court on July 5, 2022, due to health grounds.
This was communicated per a letter from the Office of the Attorney General to the court which thus requested an adjournment.
The presiding judge, prior to granting the adjournment, advised the Minister to have enough rest to be able to make it on the next adjourned date to continue his evidence-in-chief.
The Health Minister, who started his evidence in chief on June 28, 2022, led by the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame has said that as Chairman of the Transition Committee on Health after the 2016 elections, he noticed that ambulances were supposedly procured by the Ministry of Health, but had not been delivered.
Additionally, he tendered in evidence, some documents which include a proposal from businessman Richard Jakpa to the Ministry of Health for the supply of 200 ambulances and a letter from Cabinet to Ministers of Health and Finance at the time, seeking approval for a €15.8 million loan facility from Stanbic Bank Ghana.
The documents presented to the Court also included a request from the two Ministries for Parliamentary approval, and a letter from the Ministry of Health signed by Seth Anemana, to the Public Procurement Authority (PPA).
Mr. Ageymang-Manu explained that the letter addressed to the PPA sought approval to single-source the procurement of the ambulances to Big Sea General Limited.
He further told the Court that although documents stated that Big Sea General Trading arranged the funding for the project, “there is no evidence that shows that the arrangement for the funding was done by Big Sea.”
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, and two others; Dr. Sylvester Anemana and businessman, Richard Jakpa have been charged by the state for causing financial loss, over the importation of 200 ambulances in a contract between the Ministry of Health and a Dubai-based company in 2012.
They have been charged with five counts of willfully causing financial loss to the state, abetment to willfully cause financial loss to the state, contravention of the Public Procurement Act and intentionally misapplying public property, and have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.