Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Dramani Mahama has said their praises of the Court of Appeal for acquitting and discharging the accused persons in the ambulance trial, does not mean they have suddenly found their voices.
He says that despite the concerns that the NDC has with the judiciary, there are still fair-minded judges in Ghana.
Asked why the NDC has suddenly found their voices after the Court of Appeal’s ruling, Mr Mahama told TV3’s Komla Klutse in an exclusive interview on Tuesday, July 30 that “Not that we have suddenly found our voice, I do think that despite the issues we have with the judiciary there are judges who are fair-minded, we are not talking about all judges. In some cases we criticize judgments. For instance, to say that your birth certificate can’t be proof of your Identity as a citizen, I don’t agree with that judgment but they pronounced it and we have abided by it.
“We sent an election petition, we were thrown out, I said I respected the judgment of the court. So we have always respected the judgment of the court. As president I can say I never ever, once, interfered with the administration of justice, even though the Chief Justice was a church member of mine, I can say on authority I never ever discussed one case with her, I left it to the wisdom of the judges to make those determinations.
“In this government we know and we have heard of manipulation of judges, judges are called and told what decisions to take and all that. I do think we give judges security of tenure so that they can be fair-mined in what they do and I am prepared to work with the judiciary to create the kind of judiciary we deserve.”
Mr Mahama further stated that the trial of the Minority Leader Dr Cassiel Ato Forson relating to the ambulance purchase should not have started in the first place.
He said he had always held the view that Dr Forson was innocent and hence feels vindicated by the court ruling.
“I think that it shows the vindication that [Ato Forson] is innocent. We believe that this prosecution should never have taken place. Indeed, it [Court of Appeal’s decision] came as a surprise because I had quite forgotten about the appeal.
“This appeal was made some time ago when they filed a no-case petition before the court and the High Court rejected it so they went to appeal. So it came as quite a pleasant surprise. But it shows that we still have justice in this country, we can work to make the judiciary that we want it to be,” he said.
On Tuesday, July 30 the High Court did not hear the Ambulance case in the light of the Court of Appeal’s decision to acquit and discharge the accused persons Dr Cassiel Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa.
The High Court was due to sit on Tuesday July 30 but on that same day, a Court of Appeal upheld an appeal on the Financial and Economic Court’s decision by Minority Leader and former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.
Two others, Sylvester Anemana, a former Chief of Director, Ministry of Health, and Richard Jakpa, a businessman, who were standing trial with Dr Forson were also directed to open defence.
Dr. Forson and the two have been variously charged with willfully causing financial loss to the state to the tune of 2.37 million Euros in the purchase of ambulances, which could not be used for their intended performance.
The panel of three justices also acquitted and discharged the accused persons in the case.
Source: 3news.com
