Former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, has admitted during a trial that there are no records showing that he authorized Dr. Casiel Ato Forson to request payment for the importation of ambulances in 2014.
The payment was for the benefit of Big Sea General Trading Limited, a Dubai-based company that supplied defective ambulances to Ghana, leading to the Ato Forson being dragged before court for causing financial loss to the state.
Terkper made this concession under cross-examination by Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame, who has brought a case against Forson for causing financial loss to the state, according to report by Asaase radio sighted by DGN Online.
The prosecution argues that Forson, who is currently the Minority Leader in Parliament, disregarded the terms of the contract when making payments for the ambulances.
However, Forson claims that he was acting on the instructions of Terkper, his former boss as Minister of Finance.
In his witness statement, Terkper stated that he fully authorized Forson to request Letters of Credit (LCs) to be established by the Bank of Ghana in favor of Big Sea Trading. Terkper explained that his decision was based on the opinion of the then Attorney General, who stated that the government would be liable if legal action was taken by Big Sea Trading against the state.
During cross-examination, Terkper conceded that there were no documents or records showing his authorization for Forson to request the LCs.
However, he maintained that a meeting had taken place in which he had instructed Forson to act accordingly.
No minutes from this meeting have been presented by Forson’s lawyers thus far.
Terkper also argued that the LCs did not automatically mean payment had been made because certain conditions needed to be met first.
According to him, the Ministry of Health, not the Ministry of Finance, was responsible for complying with those conditions.
The Attorney General, Godfred Dame, revealed that both Terkper and Forson failed to comply with the advice of their own ministries’ legal departments and the Attorney General’s department.
Terkper admitted that he did not follow the advice of his legal department to pursue a loan approved by parliament for the ambulances.
He claimed that the decision to charge it to the Ministry of Health’s account was made due to the inability to activate the loan.
Dame argued that Terkper did not comply with the contract’s terms, which required the delivery of the ambulances before payment was made and the establishment of the LCs after signing the contract.
The court noted Terkper’s evasive answers and lack of directness during the cross-examination. Dame disputed Terkper’s claim that payments for the ambulances were put on hold once they discovered the defects. He also challenged Terkper’s assertion that the Ministry of Finance had no responsibility to further check for compliance before making the payments.
Terkper insisted that it was the responsibility of the Ministry of Health to pay for the ambulances, despite the Finance Ministry halting the payments due to the quality issues.
The trial involves Dr. Ato Forson, Dr. Sylvester Anemana (former Chief Director of the Ministry of Health), and Richard Jakpa (an agent of Big Sea Trading Limited in Dubai).
In 2014, Ghana paid €2.37 million for 30 out of 200 ambulances, all of which were found to be critically defective. The prosecution alleges that Forson caused financial loss by authorizing payment without adhering to the contract’s terms, which included pre-inspection in Dubai and payment only after Ghana took delivery of the ambulances.
The Attorney General confirmed that none of these terms were met by Forson during the trial.
By Vincent Kubi