Ato Forson’s trial: Speaker boldly says what every objective person suspects – Bright Simons

The Vice President of policy think tank, IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has waded into conversations surrounding the prosecution of the Minority leader in Parliament, Cassiel Ato Forson over the ambulance case.

According to him, it is clear that the prosecution is politically motivated.

He backs the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin when he said the prosecution was a form of persecution.

Bright Simons wrote on X: “The Speaker boldly says what every objective person suspects. The prosecution of the Leader of the Opposition benches in the Ghanaian Parliament is politically motivated. Approving letters of credit does not equal supervising the underlying transaction.”

The Speaker of Parliament voiced his concerns about the trial of the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, in the ambulance case, labelling it as 'persecution.'

Alban Bagbin emphasized the importance of upholding the law while expressing his reservations about the way the case against Dr. Ato Forson is unfolding.

During his visit to the spouse and family of the late former Majority Leader in Parliament, Felix Kwasi Owusu-Adjapong, on Thursday, October 19, Mr. Bagbin addressed the situation, saying, "The Majority Leader [Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu] indicated to me that he had to come ahead, he had some challenges to attend to in Kumasi, so he will not be available," 3news.com quoted the Speaker.

"The Minority Leader, unfortunately, is being persecuted, so on a number of these occasions, he can't be with us because he is appearing in court, as of now, he is in court being trialed. It is not that we don't want the rule of law to apply; we all want it to apply, but where prosecution is just a gamble, 'I may win or I may not win, but let me do it,' I will not prescribe that for any politician because as a leader, you always have to take the risk. You could get it right; you could get it catastrophically wrong."

Mr. Bagbin further emphasized the potential chilling effect of such prosecutions, stating, "Could you be prosecuted because of that? Then there will be tribulation; nobody will have the courage to come out boldly and take decisions where things are really hard."

The Speaker boldly says what every objective person suspects:

The prosecution of the Leader of the Opposition benches in the Ghanaian Parliament is politically motivated. Approving letters of credit does not equal supervising the underlying transaction.https://t.co/ZRnmUgM5Nq

— Bright Simons (@BBSimons) October 20, 2023

SSD/NOQ

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