Cassiel Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa
There is the good or ugly side of every situation just as there are two sides of a coin. Some others say that in the same vein, if there is original there must be fake too.
Perhaps, that is why certain unscrupulous persons in the era of bloggers have found space for fake news unlike the authentic stories that the traditional media is noted for. We are interested in the fact that there are two sides of a coin.
The recent ruling by an Appeals Court; Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader and Richard Jakpa versus the Republic for allegedly causing financial loss to the state in the purchase of some ambulances refers.
Believers in the rule of law should not feel let down even if they are disappointed about the split decision of the Court of Appeal.
Any issue meant for trial, be it serious offences like treason and murder or a misdemeanor, the outcome is always victory or loss for either party. We do not grieve over the fact that Cassiel Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa have been set free. We are strengthening the rule of law and pillars of democratic governance.
William Blackstone in 1769 stated that “the law holds that it is better that ten guilty persons escape, than one innocent suffer (one innocent person be convicted).”
The US Supreme Court in 1895 stated more succinctly that, “it is better to let the crime of a guilty person go unpunished than to condemn the innocent.”
The judges of the Court of Appeal have made the determination that Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa are acquitted and discharged. By the hierarchy of the court, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame has the Supreme Court to appeal to if he is dissatisfied with the ruling of the Court of Appeal. And indeed, he has hinted of such a move.
We want to look at this ruling today, not from the point of view of our disappointment in the ruling or otherwise, but the hypocritical stance of John Mahama, a former President and current flagbearer of the NDC, Richard Jakpa, Ato Forson and Sammy Gyamfi.
The irony is that these characters who in the not too distant past attacked judges for, according to them, being in the pocket of President Akufo-Addo are celebrating the judges now because they have had their day in court.
To John Mahama, the Judiciary can be seen to be independent only if they have their day in court. John Mahama’s position on the Judiciary in the past is diametrically opposed to what he said about the judges this week when the Court of Appeal freed Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa.
In August 2022, John Mahama was very uncharitable in his assessment of the Judiciary in apparent reference to the loss of his 2021 election petition. He said, “So badly has the image of the Judiciary deteriorated, that many of our citizenry openly make a mockery of our justice system and of our justices. The phrase “Go to Court” is these days met with derisive laughter, instead of hope that one will truly get justice. If people are not poking fun about politics and inducements being used to sway the hand of justice in the lower courts, then it is poking fun and making statements about the 7-0 …of the “Unanimous SC”.”
It was on that same occasion of the Lawyers Conference of the NDC that John Mahama described the government led by President Akufo-Addo as the “greatest political scam” in the Fourth Republic of Ghana. Sometimes, we ask ourselves whether John Mahama once occupied the highest seat of the land as President of the Republic and Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces and, therefore, representing the “soul” of the nation.
There are many compatriots, especially NDC supporters who will disagree with us, but they should wait a minute as we expose their leader as a walking contradiction, and whether the strategists in the NDC such as Kofi Totobi Quakyi and Professor Kwamena Ahwoi have gone into a deep slumber.