The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has implicated former President John Dramani Mahama in the controversy surrounding the Dr Cassiel Ato Forson ambulance saga.
According to the NPP, the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), demanded the discontinuance of the Ato Forson trial as a condition for the minority MPs to cooperate in Parliament, at the last emergency recall of the House.
“Pressure has come from every angle, including former President Mahama, the leadership of the minority in Parliament, clergy, business friends of Ato Forson, etc.
“Indeed, former President Mahama specifically maintained the discontinuance of the ambulance trial as a condition to get members of the minority in Parliament to agree to the recent recall of Parliament and has, on several other occasions, stated it as a condition for the cooperation of the minority in Parliament,” the NPP alleged.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, May 28, 2024 the chairman of the NPP’s legal and constitutional committee, Frank Davies, indicated that the NDC was hell bent on shielding its minority leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.
FAITHFUL
The NPP has called on the NDC to stop jittering if they are convinced Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has no case to answer.
The NPP wants the NDC to remain faithful to the judicial system and “cease these malicious orchestrations targeted at bastardising our judicial system that prevent him from standing trial to conclusion.”
PERENNIAL DISLIKE
In the estimation of the NPP, the recent attack on the Attorney General by the NDC was the latest in a series of vile propaganda campaigns against Godfred Yeboah Dame.
While disagreeing with the NDC that the Ajumako/Eyan/Essian legislator, Ato Forson, was being persecuted, the NPP claimed that if there was any form of persecution, it was “the malicious and perennial dislike of the NDC towards the Attorney General since he assumed office and the several attempts to stultify his work.”
The NPP recalled that right from his appointment as Attorney General, the NDC had been on his neck, but Godfred Dame remained unfazed.
Frank Davies, speaking from the Asylum Down headquarters of the NPP, also recalled that the NDC filed a Motion for Censure to remove Godfred Dame from office as Attorney-General soon after his appointment, which failed.
The NPP claimed that their opponent had held 12 press conferences about Godfred Dame since his appointment.
The party argued that the latest allegation by Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the ambulance procurement transaction trial, is but a further ploy contrived to curtail the prosecution of Ato Forson and smear the Attorney General’s integrity and reputation.
The NPP was confident the latest ploy would not see the light of day. They believe that public officials, regardless of social standing must be equally accountable for their use of public resources, adding that the law is no respecter of persons.
DOCTORED
The NPP’s press conference was a rebuttal to an earlier one by the NDC, on the same day.
The party argued that in respect of the 16-minute tape that the NDC played, there were “repetitions, overlaps, incoherence, voiceovers and distortions, demonstrating that the NDC has spent these past days doctoring whatever tape they played.
“Even on the doctored tape, the Attorney General never requested the witness falsify, fabricate, or concoct any evidence or testify in the prosecution’s favour,” the NPP argued.
RESIGN
However, the NPP said it was clear in its mind that the calls for the resignation of the Attorney General were misplaced and unwarranted.
The party has assured the NDC that the calls for Dame to resign would not stop the prosecution of Cassiel Ato Forson and his associates.
“The AG would not resign and would continue to remain witty, resolute, and focused in the delivery of his work,” the NPP said.
SUCCESS
The NPP highlighted what they described as the success record of the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboh Dame.
They said that in the 4th Republic, the current Attorney General has been one of the most successful both in and out of court.
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Adoo, said at the last State of the Nation’s Address that the AG had saved the state over GH¢10 trillion.
“This is beside the other several infrastructure and logistics improvements to the office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, including the almost completed Law House,” Frank Davies said at the press conference Tuesday.
