Ato Forson, Alex Segbefia
An Accra High Court has issued witness summons against former Minister of Health, Alex Segbefia and two others at the request of former Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, to testify for him in his ongoing trial before the court.
The other two are Seidu Kotomah, former Controller and Accountant General and Patrick Nimo, the current Chief Director at the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.
Both Mr. Segbefia and Mr. Nimo are to appear before the court on June 29, 2023, while Mr. Kotomah is scheduled to appear on July 6.
Dr. Ato Forson, Sylvester Anemana, a former Chief Director at the Ministry of Health, as well as private businessman, Richard Jakpa, are standing trial for willfully causing financial loss of €2.37 million to the state, through a contract to purchase 200 ambulances for the Ministry of Health, among other charges.
He was expected to call his second witness yesterday but his lawyer, Dr. Abdul Basit Aziz Bamba, told the court that they were not able to secure the attendance of the witness, Mr. Kotomah, to testify.
He said upon realising that they would not be able to have the witness testify in court yesterday, they made diligent effort to get other witnesses to appear in court to testify but it was unsuccessful.
He indicated that he approached Alex Mould who has already filed a statement in the trial to enquire whether he would be available but he also indicated his inability to do so.
Dr. Bamba told the court he also got Dr. Forson to talk to other witnesses despite the short notice to get others, but did not get a positive response.
He, therefore, apologised to the court and the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame for the inconvenience.
Dr. Aziz then moved an application for witness summons against Mr. Segbefia, Mr. Kotomah and Mr. Nimo to appear and testify in the trial, and it was granted.
The court ordered Dr. Forson to direct service, and the summons may be served in electronic format via WhatsApp number.
Alex Mould and former Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper, would be testifying for Dr. Forson after the three summoned witnesses are done with their testimonies.
An Accra High Court on March 30, 2023, ordered Dr. Forson and two others to open their defence in a trial in which they are accused of purchasing defective vehicles as ambulances for the Ministry of Health.
The main issue raised during the prosecution’s case was whether the defective vehicles were purchased in accordance with the purchase agreement approved by Parliament.
The other was whether Dr. Forson was authorised by the substantive Finance Minister or any superior officer to write a letter to the Controller and Accountant General directing the establishment of irrevocable Letters of Credit (LCs) which led to the payments.
The Attorney General (AG), in a written submission to establish the prosecution’s case, asserted that Dr. Forson was criminally reckless in not ensuring that the terms of the agreement were adhered, and that resulted in the institution of the criminal case against him.
Dr. Forson, in his submission, argues that he wrote the letter on behalf of the then substantive Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper. The AG disagrees with the assertion and argues that the letters were written with no authorisation from any quarters.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak