The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has described allegations by Richard Jakpa, an accused person, that the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, has on several occasions met him privately at odd hours, in person and on phone to coax him to testify to implicate Ato Forson, in the ongoing Ambulance case as a failed attempt to hold the minority leader accountable.
Responding to what the party rebuffed as a doctored audio tape which was played by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) earlier in the afternoon yesterday, Lawyer Frank Davies, straightened the records at a packed press conference yesterday, that “It is unacceptable, that Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, runs a commentary over the alleged tape calculated to prevent you the Ghanian people from making your own deduction reasoned judgment.”
Again, he added, “even though from the screenshots displayed, the alleged conversation is 26mins, the NDC schemed to play only 16 minutes. The question then is, where is the rest of the tape. Even in respect of what was played, it is apparent that there are repetitions, overlaps, incoherence, voice overs and distortions, demonstrating that, the NDC has spent these past days doctoring whatever tape they played.”
Even on the Doctored tape, Lawyer Davies observed that the Attorney General never requested the witness falsify, fabricate or concoct any evidence or testify in the prosecution’s favour.
“Again, on the question of who initiated the meeting, even from the NDC’s presentation, it is clear that any meeting at all was mooted and initiated by the 3rd accused. We would like to also put on record, that as of February 2022 when Jakpa requested for a meeting with the AG, the AG never met him and never made any arrangement through the Supreme Court Justice, Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi. It was not until the AG was invited to the residence of Justice Yonny Kulendi in 2023 that he surprisingly met Richard Jakpa at the residence,” the lawyer noted.
The NPP, he asserted, remains resolute that the Attorney General has never approached 3rd Accused for any conversation, let alone request him to skew his testimony against 1st accused, Cassiel Ato Forson, but that “The only meeting at which the Attorney General, met the 3rd Accused was in the residence of a Supreme Court Judge, His Lordship Justice Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi who about six (6) weeks ago, requested to see the Attorney General. It is not out of place for the Attorney General to visit the said Justice upon request. More so, when the two were friends even before the elevation of the latter to the Supreme Court.”
According to Lawyer Frank Davies, the Attorney General at the time of the invitation was unaware that the 3rd Accused person was going to be present and therefore his subsequent appearance in the house of the Justice was surprising. It is pertinent to note, that prior to this meeting, that the Attorney General had closed his case and the Court had thrown out the application of Ato Forson as being without merit.
The 3rd accused had also by four different letters by his lawyers, requested and made proposals to the Attorney General for a Plea Bargain which would see Big Sea General, 3rd accused’s principal pay 2million Euros in exchange for the cessation of prosecution. This had been roundly rejected by the Attorney General. In fact, 3rd Accused through his lawyers in the letter dated 16th May, 2023 had indicated unequivocally that they were requesting a Plea Bargain and following the rejection had requested the AG for terms which the AG will consider acceptable.
The Supreme Court Judge therefore sought to enquire whether there was room for a Plea Bargain and the AG highlighted that he was not opposed provided it was made in proper form and assured 3rd accused that he had nothing personally against any of the
accused persons. The AG further requested that since the charges principally focus on the public officials through whose actions the loss was occasioned, Richard Jakpa should show fidelity to the transaction records which were already on record.
Lawyer Davies also revealed that there is also a record that 1st Accused himself, Cassiel Ato Forson, had in the company of a Senior Parliamentarian, visited the AG in his house to plead with him to end the prosecution.
“…if the Attorney General desired to cajole the 3rd Accused as suggested, the NPP said “the best avenue would have been following 3rd Accused request for the AG to propose terms acceptable to him and the several WhatsApp messages sent to the AG, pleading with him. Clearly, the 3rd accused is a hired mercenary, contracted to exploit his relationship with the Supreme Court Judge, knowing the AG’s inability to disrespect the said justice when invited after failing to secure a meeting with the AG.”
The facts of the case are that on 22nd December, 2011, Cabinet endorsed an executive approval of a joint memorandum submitted to Cabinet by the then Minister for Health and 1st accused Cassiel Ato Forson, then Deputy Minister for Finance, for the purchase of 200 ambulances out of a medium-term credit facility of €15,800,000.00 between Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited and the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Finance.
On 1st November, 2012, the Parliament of Ghana granted approval for the financing agreement between Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited and the Government of Ghana for the purchase of the 200 ambulances. By an agreement dated 19th December, 2012, the Government of Ghana contracted a company in Dubai, described as Big Sea General Trading LLC (Big Sea) whose local agent is 3rd Accused, Richard Jakpa and which company was to supply the 200 ambulances to the Government, even though that company was unknown to the Cabinet and Parliamentary approvals regarding the transaction.
By the terms of the agreement, advance payment for the contract was prohibited. Payment for the vehicles was stated in the agreement to be through letters of credit established for twenty-five percent of the Contract Price “upon the delivery of every fifty (50) Ambulance Vehicles”.
On 7th August, 2014, in disregard of the financing arrangement for the transaction approved by both Cabinet and the Parliament of Ghana, 1st accused, Cassiel Ato Forson authorised the Bank of Ghana to “urgently establish the letters of credit for the supply of 50 ambulances amounting to EUR3,950,000.00, representing 25 percent of the contract sum”. At this time, not a single ambulance had been delivered.
On 12th August, 2014, 1st accused also directed the Controller and Accountant-General to pay the sums of GHC806,688.75 representing bank charges covering the establishment of letters of credit for the supply of 50 ambulances, and further directed for the amount to be charged against the Capital Expenditure Vote for the Ministry of Health.
Ladies and Gentlemen, all these directives by 1st accused, Cassiel Ato Forson were contrary to the agreement for the supply of the ambulances as well as the Parliamentary approval regarding the financing of the transaction. It is also important to note, that Ato Forson’s authorisation of payment for the transaction was without any request from the Ministry of Health. In fact, the Ministry of Health had asked Big Sea to stop producing the ambulances as there was no valid contract regarding the transaction. In spite of that, Ato Forson without cause, proceeded to authorise payment for the ambulances.
Pursuant to the unlawful directives of 1st accused, Ato Forson, Big Sea shipped 30 vehicles in three consignments between October, 2014 and February, 2015, which were fundamentally defective and lacking in the basic requirements for an ambulance. This was confirmed by a letter written by the then Minister for Health, Dr. Alex Segbefia and other assessments by the National Ambulance Service. In point of fact, Alex Segbefia, in a letter to Big Sea, described the ambulances as “ordinary vans”—to wit, trotro. These vehicles were never used and could not be used as ambulances during the Mahama Administration.
Following the change of Government in 2017, investigations commenced and statements were taken from several people including the incumbent Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah, Madam Sherry Ayittey (Decdeased) and Dr. Alex Segbefia, all of whom were former Health Ministers as well as 1st Accused, Cassiel Ato Forson and other persons such as the 3rd Accused.
Out of these many people, the Attorney-General, convinced that the willful act of Cassiel Ato Forson had resulted in a financial loss of 2.37 million euros to the state, charged him before the high court together with Sylvester Anemana, former chief Director of the Ministry of Health and Richard Jakpa a businessman, for causing financial loss, abetment to causing financial loss and misapplying public property.