Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, has appealed to the Supreme Court, asking the nation’s highest court to overturn a decision made by the Court of Appeal that cleared and released Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the current Minority Leader, and businessman Richard Jakpa.
The two were attempting to prove in the high court that they had caused the State to suffer financial loss.
The Court of Appeal acquitted the two accused individuals subsequent to an appeal brought by Cassiel Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa’s attorneys, who opposed the trial High Court’s ruling to reject their case application after the State presented its case against them.
The Court of Appeal panel, led by Justice Alex Poku-Acheampong and consisting of Justice Bright Mensah and Justice Ackaah-Boafo, decided by 2:1 majority that the appeals filed by the first and third appellants should be successful based on their analysis of the records of appeal (ROA) and “in fidelity to the law,” according to Justice Ackaah-Boafo.
“In the result, I would allow the appeals, and the ruling of the trial court dated 30 March 2023, calling on the 1st Appellant to open his defence in respect of the charges in counts 1 and 5, is hereby set aside. Also, the call on the 3rd Appellant to open his defence in respect of the charge in count 3 is set aside.
“In their place, an order upholding the submission of no case entered for the both the 1st and 3rd Appellants in respect of those three counts in the charge sheet are issued. Consequently, both Appellants are hereby acquitted and discharged, the Court of Appeal majority decision read.
In response to the Court of Appeal’s ruling, the Attorney General filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on Thursday, August 8, 2024. In essence, the Attorney General is requesting from the Supreme Court two reliefs.
