…Says “Even though they have laid traps for me, I will flee from them” in reply to leaked tape
Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, has chosen to hide behind God, while speaking for the first time after a leaked audio between him and Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the controversial defective ambulance case surfaced.
After his first appearance in court yesterday, June 4, 2024, since the audio was aired with him telling Jakpa what to say in the courtroom while giving evidence, as well as fending sickness and obtaining a medical excuse duty to delay his evidence until he – AG- returns from a trip abroad, Mr Dame, said the Lord would see him through his travail.
Speaking to the media, Mr Dame, expressed confidence that he will overcome any traps set for him.
“All I can say is that the Lord does not delight in the pleasure of the wicked. Even though they have laid traps for me, I will flee from them. And righteousness will always prevail over evil,” he added.
For over two months now, Dame, has been in the news for the wrong reasons, including accusations that he has been judge-shopping, particularly in the case of Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni and Seidu Agongo in the COCOBOD criminal case.
He had insisted on maintaining Clemence Jackson Honyenuga, on the Opuni case and got his way through a review of the case in which the Supreme Court judge was banned by his colleagues from sitting on the case, because he made comments held as biased and predetermined.
Upon the departure of Justice Honyenuga, on attaining his mandatory retirement age of 70, he was given an additional six months to continue sitting.
When his six-month contract elapsed, a new judge; Justice Kwasi Anokye Gyimah, took over the case in March last year, and ruled that the trial be restarted for being tainted with allegations of unfairness, leading to Mr Dame, rushing to the Appeals Court to overturn the decision to restart the case.
Interestingly, before the verdict of the Court of Appeal, Justice Anokye Gyimah, was strangely asked to vacate his position and move to Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital by the Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo, whilst his colleague, Justice Aboagye Tandoh, was brought from the Winneba High Court in the Central Region to preside over the matter.
Like Justice Honyenuga, a Court of Appeal judge, who was promoted to the Supreme Court while overseeing the seven-year-old GH¢217-million ‘causing financial loss’ case against Opuni and Agongo, barely had Justice Aboagye Tandoh, taken over the case, then came his promotion from the High Court to the Court of Appeal with some other judges.
Opuni’s appeal at the Supreme Court, has gotten the Chief Justice now presiding over the case, after an earlier panel presided by Justice Mariama Owusu with and Justices Yaw Darko Asare, Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi, George Kingsley Koomson, and Henry A. Kwofie as members, was strangely reconstituted, while the case was ongoing, sparking outrage across the country.
In the ambulance case, the Attorney General was accused of misconduct after his conversation with Mr Jakpa came to light with many legal brains calling for his resignation or dismissal by the President, Nana Akufo-Addo.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) had released the audio recording which allegedly captures a conversation in which Godfred Dame is heard coaching the third accused, Richard Jakpa, on what to say in court, with instructions aimed at discrediting the Minority Leader, Dr. Ato Forson.
This development has prompted the NDC to question Mr Dame’s suitability as the leader of the Ghana Bar and his role as the Attorney General and Minister of Justice.
Addressing the issue of the leaked tape’s authenticity, Jakpa has challenged anyone disputing it to produce their tape as counter-evidence.
In an interview with JoyNews ahead of the hearing on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, Jakpa expressed his confidence in securing justice.
He emphasised that the allegations he has raised are serious and should be addressed within the legal framework.
Jakpa said “He [Dame]] should come to court and come and refute the allegations and set the records according to his opinion straight and the way it is supposed to be. I have done mine in court, and I am expecting him to come and do his part. The case is in court and not in public opinion.”
The release of the tape has stirred significant controversy and raised questions about the integrity of the legal proceedings against the Minority Leader in Parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, who faces charges of causing financial loss to the state concerning the procurement of ambulances.
Richard Jakpa, justified his recording of a private conversation with Godfred Yeboah Dame.
According to Mr Jakpa, the tape was to serve as evidence that the AG was seeking to prosecute and jail innocent people.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with JoyNews’ Latif Iddrisu ahead of Monday’s hearing of the case, the businessman insisted that he was not being disingenuous when he recorded Mr Dame.
“When a private conversation leads to committing a crime, it can no longer be private. It becomes a crime against the state. So that private recording is neither here nor there,” he said.
This response follows the release of a 16-minute tape by the NDC of a conversation between the accused person and the Attorney General.
According to the NDC, the recording captures Mr Dame allegedly coaching Jakpa on the statements to make in court, specifically targeting Dr Ato Forson.
During a press conference on May 28, the NDC’s Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, asserted that the coaching session was designed to influence Jakpa’s court testimony.
Mr Nketia emphasised that the alleged coaching was intended to shape Jakpa’s statements to implicate Dr Forson.
However, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) insists that the tape has been doctored. The party stressed that the AG also never requested the witness to falsify, fabricate or concoct any evidence or testify in the prosecution’s favour.
But rubbishing this assertion, Mr Jakpa said the onus now lies on the NPP to produce the original audio if they claim that his was falsified.
“They are claiming it is a doctored tape. I didn’t say that so they should bring the original”.
Touching on why the audio was not submitted to the court considering that he had previously brought a similar allegation against Mr Dame during court proceedings, Mr Jakpa said it is a strategy adopted by his counsel.
“My lawyer knows his strategy and he understands the court processes more than I do, so he is doing
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General has opposed an application for an order striking out the charges and terminating the proceedings or staying proceedings against Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the trial of Dr Ato Forson and one other.
The AG described the application as an abuse of process and unmeritorious.
In an affidavit in opposition, the AG said no proper grounds had been canvassed by the applicant to warrant a grant of that application, which was unknown to criminal procedure and practice in Ghana.
“…That the instant application is a rush and a desperate smoke screen by the applicant to abort his legitimate prosecution for the role he played in causing financial loss to the State in the purchase of ordinary vans purporting to be ambulances,” the AG said.
The AG said the application, was anchored on “untruths and a skilful manipulation of facts”, and sought to cloth the applicant with immunity from prosecution and to that extent, “incompetent and offensive to Ghanaian law”.
The A-G is meanwhile, challenging Dr. Ato Forson’s application for a mistrial in the ongoing ambulance case.
According to the motion filed on May 31, the AG’s Office told the High Court that the request is unconstitutional, unfounded, and without merit.
Last week, Dr Ato Forson, the first accused person in the ongoing ambulance procurement trial, applied for a mistrial.
He cited the leaked telephone conversation between the third accused in the case, Mr Jakpa and Mr Dame.
A mistrial occurs when a jury is unable to reach a verdict and there must be a new trial with a new jury, or there is a serious procedural error or misconduct that would result in an unfair trial, and the judge adjourns the case without a decision on the merits and awards a new trial.
In his affidavit filed on Friday, May 31, Dr Ato Forson highlighted concerns regarding the leaked tape, which he believes demonstrates professional misconduct on the part of the AG.
These recordings have been submitted and annexed to the filed application. But in the fresh motion, the AG’s office insisted that these form part of attempts by the accused persons to evade justice.
In the application, the AG insisted that “clearly, the accused persons are bent on using any means necessary to get away with crimes committed against the Republic and must not be aided in that illegitimate endeavour through a grant of the instant application.”
In the motion, the AG further explained that “the evidence led so far by the 3rd accused person both in his copious and voluminous witness statement and oral evidence in chief, does not show any manipulation by the Attorney-General on the basis of which it can be said that the 3rd accused provided suborned testimony.”
The AG’s office added that the prosecution has been transparent to the court in proceeding so far and must continue despite what it describes as fabricated allegations by the “3rd accused aimed at assisting the applicant to gain unwarranted advantage in this trial.”
