Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, the trial judge in the high-profile financial crime case involving Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson has begged parties to help her complete the case swiftly.
She was reacting in open court to a notice by lawyers for Forson (the first accused) that the MP will be absent from court sometimes to attend to his legislative duties.
The judge rejected the request likening the Minority Leader to a senior house master.
The state-owned Daily Graphic quoted the judge as saying if Ato Forson was a senior house master, “would he have said that today is reopening assembly and that he can’t come to court, no.”
While emphasizing her respect for the office of the Minority Leader, the judge pointed out that Ato Forson was crucially an accused person in the proceedings and and not a witness.
“So please help me to just finish this case quickly. That way everybody will go and attend to what they have to attend to,” she said.
The Gaily Graphic report added that she spoke about how the other accused person, Richard Jakpa's decision to replace his lawyer during the trial affected plans to complete the case by end of May 2024.
“Let’s try and put the plan back on schedule, let’s try not to interrupt the flow of things, it will not happen,” she said.
Meanwhile the Minority Caucus in Parliament have stated their commitment to accompany Ato Forson to Parliament whenever he is due to appear in court, a move that will likely hamper parliamentary business.
Ato Forson and Jakpa are facing criminal charges over purchase of ambulances during the John Evans Atta Mills era when Forson was a Deputy Minister of Finance with Jakpa being the Ghanaian rep of the company that got the contract.
Meanwhile, the court has set June 13 to deliver a ruling on whether to admit as evidence a viral audio tape in which the Attorney-General is heard discussing issues related to the case with Jakpa.
The two have been accused specifically of causing financial loss of €2.37 million to the state in the ambulance deal.
TWI NEWS
SARA
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