REPUBLIC vs. CASSIEL ATO FORSON, SYLVESTER ANEMANA AND RICHARD JAKPA

The case concerns the procurement of 200 ambulances by the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Health, financed by a loan facility from Stanbic Bank. The 1st Accused/Appellant, Cassiel Ato Forson, then Deputy Minister for Finance, and the 3rd Accused/Appellant, Richard Jakpa, local representative of Big Sea General Trading Ltd, were charged with causing financial loss to the state and misapplication of public property. The prosecution alleged that the 1st Accused authorized irrevocable letters of credit (LCs) for payment of ambulances that were defective and unfit for purpose, resulting in a loss of €2,370,000. The 3rd Accused was alleged to have intentionally caused the supply of defective vehicles. Both pleaded not guilty and challenged the trial court's refusal to uphold their submission of no case to answer.

JUDGMENT Ackaah-Boafo, JA i. Overview: [1] My Lords, based on the facts presented in this appeal and the question for our determination, I wish to start my opinion with the statement by M. Hor in the article "The Privilege against Self-Incrimination and Fairness to the Accused" to the effect that: “Perhaps the single most important organizing principle in criminal law is the right of an accused not to be forced into assisting in his or her own prosecution.” The statement above was adopted and succinctly enunciated by the Supreme Court of Canada per Lamer, C.J., for the majority in the case of R v P. (M.B.), [1994] 1 SCR 555 (M.B.P.) at paras 36 and 37. Domestically, Adinyira JSC also quoted the above statement in her opinion in the case of Michael Asamoah & Another v. The Republic, Suit No. J3/4/2017 dated July 26, 2017. I shall later speak to the quote above in considering the merits or otherwise of this appeal. [2] The 1st Accused/Appellant, Cassiel Ato Forson, was c...