Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, the presiding judge handling the ambulance purchase trial did something fundamentally wrong with her ruling on the applications filed by the first and third accused, Martin Luther Kpebu, a private legal practitioner, has asserted.
He says the petitioners should have been given a hearing to explain the lawyers arguments since such are not stated in the affidavits.
The renowned lawyer described the ruling as a travesty of justice whilst commenting on it Saturday, June 08, 2024, on the KeyPoints on TV3.
Martin Kpebu advised lawyers of Richard Jakpa and Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson to challenge the ruling at the Supreme Court.
“The ruling itself, I wouldn’t be surprised, they actually would have to go and challenge it. She did something fundamentally wrong. It was so, so, so wrong that I was like, why? Where is she in a hurry to go? When you put stuff before a court, this is my application, okay? I want you to do state of proceedings. What you put in there, usually we don’t put law in the affidavits. No, usually except some exceptions, so generally we don’t. So the arguments of the lawyers are not in what she took.
The lawyer continued that since the case arguments with the laws backing them are not stated in the affidavits, the lawyers needed to “come to court, and then you do the arguments, so based on the affidavits, you say, okay, I said we met here, he tried to coerce me or whatever to answer in this way. So after saying that, they say, to persuade my lord or my lady, I have the following cases. So that’s where the real meat of the matter is done. They just didn’t allow it. I don’t know where she was rushing to. She didn’t allow it. That’s so, so, so fundamental. So everything about this ruling, no, no, no, no. We haven’t heard. That’s not the best,” he lamented.
Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, the presiding Judge in the ongoing ambulance trial Thursday, June 06, 2024, dismissed all four applications filed by Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa in the ongoing ambulance purchase trial.
The Court in its separate rulings said the applications for an order of mistrial, inquiry into conduct of AG, injunction and stay of proceedings are without legal basis.
In a separate ruling, the presiding judge, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe said that there is no legal basis for the court to order for enquiry into the conduct of prosecution when the case is pending. “Maybe another forum and not the court,” the court had said.
Background
Dr. Ato Forson, the current Minority Leader and Richard Jakpa, a businessman 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.
Essentially, the applications are seeking an order to discontinue the trial of the two accused persons following allegations against the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame.
Dr. Ato Forson, who is also the Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam was asking the court for order of injunction against the Attorney-General or his office from further him.
He also sought a mistrial aimed at abating the proceedings and also a stay of proceedings pending an appeal to challenge the Court’s earlier decision for them to start cross examination of Mr Jakpa, third accused before the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame.
For his part, Mr Jakpa, was also asking the court to strike out the charges against him on ground that it violates his right to fair trial, a request which was supported by lawyers of Dr. Ato Forson, who filed an affidavit to that effect.
They asked for the charge of causing financial loss to the state levelled against Jakpa to be struck out.
The applications before Justice Asare-Botwe, a Justice of the Court of Appeal were premised on the third accused person’s allegations that Godfred Dame, the Attorney-General, had impressed on him through meetings and phone calls during odd hours to implicate the first accused- Ato Forson –by falsifying his testimony in order to secure his conviction.
AG’s opposition
The applications were opposed by the Attorney-General, describing them as frivolous.
“The accused persons are bent on using any means necessary, fair, or foul, to abort their legitimate prosecution for crimes committed against the Republic, and must not be aided in that illegitimate endeavour through a grant of the instant application,” the A-G’s affidavit in opposition to the applications stated in some parts.
Dame also contended that it is in the public interest that the case be brought to a firm conclusion based on the credible evidence before the court.
But Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, a Justice of the Court of Appeal sitting as an additional High Court judge, did not allow submissions on the applications.
She said the documents filed by the lawyers and the State are extensive enough for the court to consider them and deliver a ruling.
She also said, the court will also analyze the audio tape attached by Richard Jakpa to his application, with emphasis on its endorsement and admissibility.
