How Justice Asare-Botchwey scolded Ato Forson's lawyer a day before ruling by Court of Appeal

A day before the Court of Appeal delivered its ruling on the appeal filed by Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa against the High Court’s ruling on their submission of no case in the ambulance trial, the court presided by Justice Afia Serwaa Asare-Botchwey sat to deliberate on the matter.

The issue on the burner for the day, Monday, July 29, 2024, was the cross-examination of the Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, by the Attorney-General as well as the lawyers of Richard Jakpa and Ato Forson, the two accused persons in the case.

The three legal teams took turns to cross-examine Lieutenant General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, but it was that of Dr. Abdul Bassit Bamba, the lead counsel for Ato Forson, that produced some heated moments between him and the presiding judge.

The first clash between Justice Afia Serwaa Asare-Botchwey and Dr. Bamba was when Dr. Bamba asked the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, to stand up so that he could be identified by the witness.

Justice Afia Serwaa Asare-Botchwey did not take kindly to that move by Dr. Bamba and demanded an immediate apology from him.

“It was nothing. I’m waiting for your apology. You do these things, and it's like all these suits and things people have been watching. It is nothing,” she said.

Dr. Bamba immediately apologized, and the judge readily accepted the apology and asked him to continue.

Another incident of clash between Dr. Bamba and the judge was a question Dr. Bamba asked, which the judge believed to be unbefitting of his experience and knowledge in the legal fraternity.

Justice Afia Serwaa Asare-Botchwey, who admitted to having huge respect for the accomplishments and experience of Dr. Bamba, questioned why he would ask the CDS about the Attorney-General’s intentions for prosecuting Ato Forson.

“Let me ask you this question because I always like the Sunday school approach. Why do you think somebody who just said that he has not been following this issue because he is on the border dispute in Burkina is supposed to know the motive for the trial of your client?

“I can never teach you because you know far more than I do. What I’m saying is that you know very well this question ought not to be directed to this witness, and you know that. We have all gone beyond that. So please, for that question, even if the Attorney-General hasn’t raised the objection, I’d have told you not to land. And even you, when you were asking the question, you were trying hard not to smile. Why do you do that?” she quizzed.

The case at the High Court has been suspended following the ruling by the Court of Appeal.

Meanwhile, the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame, has disclosed his intentions to appeal the ruling by the Court of Appeal.

EK