Accra, High Court – Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe has advised Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, to recuse himself from the ongoing ambulance procurement case involving Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa. The advice follows allegations of professional and prosecutorial misconduct.
Godfred Dame attempted to explain himself, but the judge upheld her recommendation.
This decision comes after separate applications filed by Dr. Forson and Jakpa. The applications requested several orders, including an inquiry into the Attorney-General’s conduct based on Jakpa’s claims that Dame had been contacting him at odd hours.
Additionally, they sought a mistrial to terminate the case, a stay of proceedings until the applications were determined, and a motion to strike out charges against Jakpa. Dr. Forson, the Minority Leader and former Deputy Finance Minister, filed three of these motions, while Jakpa filed one.
Both are on trial for allegedly causing a financial loss of €2.37 million to the state through a contract to purchase 200 ambulances for the Ministry of Health, among other charges.
While the court declined to order an inquiry and declare a mistrial based on prosecutorial misconduct, it directed Dr. Forson to seek redress from the General Legal Council if he wished to pursue the matter further. Additionally, the court admitted a telephone recording between Jakpa and the Attorney-General as evidence, overruling Dame’s objections regarding its admissibility.
This ruling is unprecedented, marking the first time a Ghanaian court has advised an Attorney-General to recuse himself from a trial due to misconduct allegations.
