The Ranking Member on Finance Committee of Parliament, Casiel Ato Forson insists the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame has made him a target for prosecution ostensibly to silence him.
In a sharp rebuttal to a statement from the Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday 5th January 2022, Mr. Forson indicated that the Attorney cannot deny the fact that the move to prosecute him stem from the fact that he has been vociferous on the government’s economic policies.
“I have noted a statement issued by a Deputy Attorney General claiming that by speaking out against the malice and deliberate political persecution inherent in the decision to prosecute me, I am exposing the Attorney General to “hate” and “prejudice”, he disclosed.
He continued “I wish to state that the Attorney General’s office cannot determine my reaction to the sinister plot to needlessly tarnish my reputation and rob me of my liberty simply because I remain implacably opposed to the poor economic policies of this government and in particular the E-Levy.”
According to the former Deputy Finance Minister, “It is the Attorney General who is driven by hate, prejudice and demagoguery! He is the one abusing his prosecutorial powers to silence critical political opponents.”
The Member for Parliament forAjumako-Enyan-Esiam explained that for instance, on Paragraph 7 of the AG’s statement issued Wednesday, it was claimed that: “As stated in the facts of the case filed in court on 22nd December, 2011, cabinet endorsed an executive approval of a joint memorandum submitted to cabinet by the then Minister for Health and the first accused Cassiel Ato Forson, then Deputy Minister for Finance, for the purchase of 200 ambulances out of a medium term credit facility of €15,800,000 between Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited and the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Finance.”
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Cabinet memo for the purchase of the Ambulances was submitted in December, 2011. I became a Deputy minister on the 2nd of May 2013. How could I have signed a cabinet MEMO in December 2011?” he quizzed.
The Attorney General has dismissed claims by former Deputy Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, that he is being prosecuted by the state because of his stance on the controversial E-levy.
The former deputy Minister is being prosecuted for causing financial loss to the state over the purchase of some ambulances in 2017 under the Mahama administration. He has attributed his prosecution to his stiff opposition to the government’s new tax measures.
However, in a statement the Attorney General’s department said the claims of Mr. Ato Forson are “laden with factual misrepresentations and calculated at scandalizing the criminal proceedings pending in the High Court against the Member of Parliament and exposing the Attorney-General to prejudice and hatred”.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Isaac Dzidzoamenu
