The Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has commended the achievements of the Minority caucus during the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic.
Speaking at the dissolution of the 8th Parliament on January 6, 2025, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson highlighted the Minority’s resilience in meeting the expectations of the Ghanaian people despite numerous challenges.
He also reflected on the personal toll he endured for his criticisms of the Akufo-Addo-led government.
“Right Honorable Speaker, on a personal level, I have paid a heavy price for my stance against the government’s mismanagement,” he stated.
Dr. Ato Forson described his prosecution by the Attorney General as persecution, alleging it was a deliberate attempt to silence and intimidate him.
“Mr. Speaker, my recent prosecution, or call it persecution, by the Attorney General over frivolous and trumped-up charges was calculated to silence, intimidate, and completely extinguish a known dissenting voice. My crime, Mr. Speaker, was that I sounded alarm bells on an economy that was being mismanaged and ruined by the acts and omissions of a select few in government,” he noted.
He further pointed out that the timing of his prosecution coincided with the Minority’s opposition to contentious government policies.
“The fact that my prosecution began in the wake of the tussle over E-Levy should not be lost on anyone. That I became an instant target for the regime. Mr. Speaker, I was charged on Christmas Eve, a few days after the rejection of the E-Levy and the 2022 budget,” he recounted.
Dr. Ato Forson accused the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, of using underhanded methods to secure a conviction.
“Right Honorable Speaker, from that point, the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, in whom the prosecutorial powers of the State are vested, was determined to deploy all crude tactics to achieve his ends of malicious persecution just to satisfy the regime.
“Mr. Speaker, the whole world witnessed how a supposed Minister of Justice set out to coach, cajole, and coerce another accused person standing trial with me to falsify testimony and skew it in such a manner as to enable him to procure a conviction at all costs against an innocent person,” he stated.
Dr. Forson accused the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, of professional misconduct and alleged that he had engaged in illegal acts such as witness tampering, conspiracy, and fabrication of evidence.
“Mr. Speaker, Godfred Yeboah Dame, who is the principal legal officer of the State, engaged in crimes such as witness tampering, conspiracy against an accused person, fabrication of evidence to pervert the course of justice, and professional misconduct contrary to the ethics of the very legal profession he heads,” he added.
He asserted that his experiences were emblematic of the broader challenges facing Ghana’s democracy under the current administration.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
