Richard Jakpa and A-G Godfred Dame
On Day 3 of cross examination of Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the ongoing ambulance purchase trial, a number of interesting events took place.
The prosecution had new lawyers taking on Jakpa with the court admitting what the prosecution said was a key piece of evidence, in between these, there was heightened security at the court premises as Jakpa and the prosecution engaged in explanation of business jargons.
GhanaWeb picks out some of the key incidents that took place on June 27, 2024.
Jakpa confronted by two lawyers in one day
Prior to June 27, Jakpa had been cross-examined by Director of Public Prosecution, Yvonne Attakorah Obuobisa. On Day 3, he faced Deputy Attorney-General (A-G) Alfred Tuah-Yeboah on the first leg of the proceeding.
The exchanges were centered on Jakpa’s military history and how he exited the Armed Forces in 2007. The prosecution tendered an alleged letter of dismissal, which tendering was opposed by the defence.
After a brief recess, the judge ruled to admit the letter into evidence, rejecting the defense's objections. She based her decision on section 60 concerning personal knowledge and section 126 on official records.
Jakpa, however, stated in open court and post-hearing interviews that the attachment titled "Release from service for unsatisfactory conduct" was unfamiliar to him.
Dame confronts Jakpa with LCs and ISO certification
A-G Dame himself took over the prosecution when he confronted Jakpa over issues relating to Letters of credit, who authorized it between the Government of Ghana (GoG) and Big Sea and the authorization date.
The A-G sought to prove that Jakpa was the major beneficiary in the contract. There were also exchanges over whether or not Big Sea had International Standard Organization (ISO) certification at a particular time.
Out of court, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi explained that the A-G was confusing ISO with contracts, stating that the ISO certification was renewed annually for quality assurance purposes and were not company registration documents.
Jakpa insists Dame coerced him over excuse duty
Jakpa asserted that he was coerced by Dame into obtaining a fake medical excuse duty, despite being in good health.
Jakpa's claim came to light during cross-examination by the Deputy Attorney-General Alfred Tuah-Yeboah.
Jakpa alleged that the A-G pressured him to fabricate a medical excuse to avoid a court appearance, believing that his absence would strategically benefit the case.
He described the AG's persistent demands, which placed him in an ethical quandary, as he felt obligated to comply even though he was fully capable of attending court.
Heightened security at court premises
Court reporters from major TV outlets (GHOne, TV3 and Joy News) reported that the security presence at the court was higher than usual with National Security operatives, the usual police detail and others joining.
This was partly linked to orders last week for National Security to investigate how audio recordings of the court's proceedings was being circulated on social media, especially on WhatsApp.
SARA
