A private legal practitioner with the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Frank Davies, has refuted the allegation that the Attorney General attempted to coach the third accused in the controversial ambulance purchase trial, Richard Jakpa in the recently leaked tape recording.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Newsfile, the lawyer said there was a clear disagreement between the two parties as heard on the tape but Godfred Yeboah never tried to persuade Mr Jakpa to falsify any document to the court.
He argued that exchange hardly constituted coaching, as the third accused explicitly resisted any suggestion from Mr Dame that he found questionable.
“I listened to that tape recording I cannot see at what instance I heard the AG coaching, persuading and getting Jakpa to skew evidence. However, they disagreed on basic understandings of what was transpiring.
“At a point in time, the AG said ‘If you do it my way, it will not create any problem for you’ and Jakpa said ‘I will not do it your way, because if I do, I will come out dishonest.’ “How can this be one of coaching?” he quizzed.
Mr Davies added, “I am having a conversation with you, and we disagree on it, you stick your part I stick to my part how is it coaching? It can’t even be a failed attempt because he disagreed and that is the bottom line.”
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Tuesday released a tape purportedly capturing a conversation between the Attorney General, and Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the controversial ambulance purchase trial.
According to the NDC, the conversation occurred the morning before a court hearing and suggested that Mr Dame was coaching Jakpa to skew evidence against the former Deputy Finance Minister.
Mr Davies, however, dismissed these claims, asserting that the tape was doctored and pointed out several inconsistencies and questionable aspects of the recording.
He emphasised that the audio lacked coherence and primarily amplified Jakpa’s voice, while Dame’s words were often unclear.
This, according to Mr Davies, suggests manipulation rather than an authentic recording.
“I have said that that tape is doctored. So I do not want to place a premium on what transpired on that tape. If you listen carefully, you will realize it is a pieced-up document because you will never hear coherently what the AG has said,” he stated.
On the same show, the NDC’s Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi said neither the Attorney General nor his spokesperson have denied the recording.
According to him, their deafening silence is proof that the conversation took place.
“The Office of the Attorney General has also not been able to say that the tape was doctored. So that wishy washy response is very weak. We can’t work with it. Again, he [Frank Davies] said that the tape is pieced together so you should tell us which parts of the tape we have heard was pieced together.
“You don’t deny that there was a call? You don’t deny that the voice on the call was Mr Dame me. You say that possibly piece together which part has been pieced together. Show us?”
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