Source: Onuaonline.com
Private legal practitioner, Martin Luther Kpebu is calling for the dismissal of the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, and Supreme Court judge, Justice Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi, for their involvement in the ongoing ambulance procurement trial.
Mr. Kpebu says the involvement of the Attorney-General in trying to impress upon a witness to falsify a testimony against an accused person to be imprisoned is so embarrassing for the state, and needs to be punished for it.
Richard Jakpa, the third accused person had said in court that the A-G had made several attempts to influence him to alter his testimony against the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the first accused in the matter, to get him imprisoned.
Following revelations that came up to buttress the allegations, some audio recording and WhatsApp messages between the two have been admitted into evidence by the court, which has brought to bear the involvement of the Supreme Court judge, Justice Kulendi, in the matter.
The judge, who is a cousin to the third accused, Richard Jakpa, facilitated the processes leading to the meeting between the A-G and the third accused.
Commenting on the matter on TV3 Saturday, June 22, 2024, Mr. Kpebu noted that the development is an embarrassment to the state and the persons involved must all be punished.
According to Kpebu, allowing the duo to still occupy their offices will suggest Ghana has accepted prosecutorial misconduct as part of its judicial processes.
“What can the cross examination of Jakpa undo? What you heard the Attorney-General say in the 16-minute tape, how do you respond to this? What are you going to get from Jakpa that can undo what Dame said? Are we saying we are not worried by what Dame said? And Akufo-Addo is there, he has not sacked Dame, and the Supreme Court judge has not resigned so that we will see that, after this tape came out, well, the system is strong, the actors left the scene, because Dame has to go, Yonny has to go,” the renowned lawyer called.
“It’s unfortunate because otherwise, then it just shows that we’ve embraced, prosecutorial misconduct. And that’s what I’m saying, let’s fight it with all the strength that we can master,” he added.
Mr. Kpebu’s comments follow the admission of a full WhatsApp conversation between the A-G and third accused into evidence by the court, saying the development is an embarrassment to the state.
Background
An Accra High Court admitted into evidence, the full WhatsApp messages between Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the ongoing ambulance procurement trial and the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame. Richard Jakpa had earlier presented portions of the conversation to the court which was admitted.
However, the prosecution submitted the full chat which was accepted by the presiding judge, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, indicating the court cannot reject the full chat since it had earlier accepted portions of it which were presented by the third defendant, Richard Jakpa.
She, however, stated that the weight of the evidence presented could only be determined by the court.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, during proceedings on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, shed light on the significant number of messages the third accused sent in contrast to the few ones Mr. Dame responded to.
Mr. Jakpa admitted that he introduced himself to the Attorney-General before the trial and obtained the Justice Minister’s contact information through his cousin, Supreme Court Judge, Justice Yonny Kulendi.
Under cross-examination, he acknowledged that the messages presented in court did not represent the entire conversation but were selectively chosen for their relevance to his case.
Meanwhile, counsel for the defence, Thaddeus Sory, objected to the full conversation saying they would need more to review the messages thoroughly.
The court had earlier admitted into evidence, a tape containing a telephone conversation between the A-G and Mr. Jakpa, where Mr. Dame is accused of impressing upon Jakpa to falsify his testimony against the first accused, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
Source: www.onuaonline.com
