A private legal practitioner, Nana Agyei Baffour Barfour Awuah, has said the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame cannot be blamed for any wrongdoing in the ongoing ambulance procurement trial.
According to him, the law allows the Attorney General to seek the help of anybody he deems fit as a witness in a case.
“A witness is required in every case and sometimes you need people who saw, heard or even felt it. So if the person falls in any of these categories, nothing stops the AG from using them as witnesses. Sometimes people may be involved in a crime but because they are witnesses, charges may not be levelled,” he explained.
Lawyer Awuah’s comment on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Friday, was in reaction to the third accused in the trial, Richard Jakpa’s allegations in court that the AG called him at odd hours to implicate Minority Leader and former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson who is also standing trial in the case.
This comes in the wake of backlash from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) amidst threats to present evidence to prove Mr Jakpa’s claims.
But Mr. Awuah encouraged that in the best practice, he [AG] should have engaged the lawyer of the accused.
“There is no law that bars people from making calls at a particular time. It is all based on the engagement or the relationship between the parties.
“So if the AG has been able to establish a certain relationship with Jakpa, nothing stops him from calling at any time. So if it is true that the AG wanted to use Richard Jakpa, nothing stops him,” he stated.
However, Mr. Awuah dismissed assertions that the AG by his actions if true could be a scheme to jail Dr Ato Forson.
He said though the Attorney General has prosecutorial powers, he cannot influence the outcome of a case because he is not the judge.
Meanwhile, the Mr. Dame has vehemently dismissed the allegations, stating it was rather the lawmaker who has been begging for the case to be discontinued.
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