Veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr. could not hold back his emotions while reacting to the audio recording of a phone conversation between the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, and the third accused in the ongoing trial of Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson; businessman Richard Jakpa.
Kwesi Pratt Jnr could not believe that the Attorney General, who has been accused by Jakpa of trying to coerce him to testify against Dr. Ato Forson, would utter those words in the audio recording.
He said that the action of the Attorney General is a dent on the country's justice delivery system and is indefensible.
The veteran journalist was particularly bemused by Godfred Dame asking a person he has accused of a crime to produce a fake medical excuse duty to the judge presiding over the trial so he can travel.
"I am sick already. I'm really feeling sick. After this, how can anybody have confidence in the system that we run today? I'm so embarrassed, I'm ashamed.
"For the Attorney General to call an accused person and to tell the accused person that 'I'm going to travel, I don't want to be in court so you, the accused person, get a fake medical report and present it to the court so that the trial would not come on and I would have the opportunity to travel.' My goodness," a visibly angry Pratt Jnr said during a panel discussion on the Good Morning Ghana programme on May 29, 2024.
He added, "Forget the ambulance case, forget everything else and concentrate on this one. Where would this be tolerated? Where in the world would this be tolerated? Who in his right conscience can defend this? I don't know what to say. This is so mind-boggling."
Kwesi Pratt Jnr also stated that the conversation in the tape also shows that contrary to assertions of the Office of the Attorney General, Dame has been engaging with the third accused without his lawyer, which is illegal, and that the two men have met more than once.
He added that the tape also disproves the claim by the Attorney General's office that Godfred Dame was ambushed by Jakpa at the residence of Supreme Court judge, Justice Yonny Kulendi, because both of them could be heard agreeing to meet there.
About the allegations against Godfred Dame:
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), true to its promise, provided evidence of the supposed misdeeds of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, in the ongoing trial of the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
The NDC accused Godfred Dame of unethical and unprofessional conduct when the third accused person in the ambulance purchase trial, businessman Richard Jakpa, alleged in court that the AG had meetings with him on how to implicate the first accused, Ato Forson.
The third accused claimed that the Attorney General wanted his cooperation to jail Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson; a claim Dame flatly denied.
At a press conference in Accra, on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, the NDC played a 16-minute audio recording of a phone call conversation between Godfred Dame and Richard Jakpa, on the day the third accused was supposed to testify in court.
In the recording, Dame is heard urging the third accused to testify in a manner that differs from an explanation given to him (Jakpa).
Before the AG's request, Jakpa explained that Ato Forson had done no wrong with the LCs he signed.
He could be heard telling the Attorney General that the contract was for the purchase of 200 vehicles with 4 LCs.
"With the security from the government being the LC, the condition precedent... the contract for 200 vehicles in tranches of 50, 50, 50, 50. The contract is one contract for 200 ambulances which has been broken down within the contract.
"You establish an LC for every 50 tranche. So, you have four LCs for the 200 ambulances," Jakpa explained.
Godfred Dame then stated that the third accused should accept his explanation because it wouldn't cause him any harm.
"For that part, I disagree with you because if you look at the terms of the contract, it is quite clear and it should not be difficult for you to accept because it doesn't put you in any problem. You are not the Minister of Health, and you are not the Minister of Finance, so it doesn't put you in any difficulty," the Attorney General is heard saying.
However, Jakpa insisted that he could not grant Dame's request because there were letters that confirmed the arrangement in the contract.
"No, the problem I have in accepting that for you is that there are letters that confirm [details of the transaction]. So I can't go against what the letters say," he said.
Dame continued to ask Jakpa to accept his position because it would not cause him any problems, but the third accused insisted he was not going to say anything contrary to what he knew as the truth.
The Attorney General is also heard in the recording telling Jakpa to fabricate a medical excuse so that he could travel.
Watch a video of Kwesi Pratt Jnr's remarks below:
BAI/AE
Meanwhile, catch up on the latest edition of The Lowdown on GhanaWeb TV as Etsey Atisu sat down with the MP for Mpraeso, Davis Ansah Opoku, to discuss issues surrounding the E-Levy, the Saglemi Housing Controversy, and the OSP Impeachment:
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