The Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has obtained a court order to compel the former Minister of Health, Alex Segbefia, Seidu Kotomah, a former Controller and Accountant General, and Patrick Nimo, a former Budget Director at the Ministry of Health, to testify as part of his defence in the ongoing trial.
Dr. Ato Forson, who was directed by the court to present his defence, has called only one witness so far, an officer from Stanbic Bank who was subpoenaed.
However, his legal team informed the court that they encountered difficulties in securing the attendance of their witnesses, despite some of them having filed witness statements.
The lawyer representing Dr Ato Forson expressed regret and apologized for the absence of their second witness, Seidu Kotomah.
Attempts to contact other witnesses were also unsuccessful. The lawyer apologized to the court, the Attorney General, other defence lawyers, and the clerks for the inconvenience caused.
“I’m extremely sorry about this unfortunate incident. I profusely apologise. I apologise to the Attorney General, I have a duty to sincerely apologise to my other defence lawyers and also to the clerks.”
Subsequently, the legal team applied for a writ of summons to be issued. However, Justice Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe cautioned that issuing the summons would allow the court to issue an arrest warrant if the witnesses fail to appear.
Despite this warning, Dr. Aziz Bamba, the lawyer for the minority leader, proceeded with the request for the summons.
The court granted the application for the three individuals to be summoned:
- Mr. Patrick Nimo, the current Chief Director at MESTI and former Budget Director at the Ministry of Health.
- Alex Segbefia, a former Minister of Health.
- Mr. Seidu Kotomah, former Controller and Accountant General.
