Businessman Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the ongoing ambulance procurement trial, has clarified that the alleged tape recording involving himself and the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, did not take place at his cousin’s residence.
According to Mr Jakpa, he never mentioned the name of his cousin, Justice Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi, during the court proceedings; but it was rather the prosecution who introduced his name in court.
Addressing the press after his cross-examination in the ambulance trial on Thursday, June 27, Mr Jakpa said the prosecution assumed the alleged tape recording was made at Justice Kulendi’s residence, hence their decision to pre-empt the outcome.
“It was the prosecution that mentioned his name in court and continued on air through their media surrogate. Because they were thinking that the recording that I had made, they thought the recording was made in Justice Yonny Kulendi’s house initially so they were preempting it because the recording had not yet been played.
“So they thought the recording was made in Justice Kulendi’s house because the AG knew very well that he had met me in Justice Kulendi’s house on several occasions and we’ve had meetings,” he explained.
Mr Jakpa further argued that because he had met the Attorney General on several occasions at his cousin’s house, he [Godfred Yeboah Dame] assumed the recording was made there, leading to his preemptive actions.
“…and that’s why they went after Justice Yonny Kulendi and tried to put him under the bus. That is why the Deputy Attorney General wrote that they hadn’t met me, they have never had any discussion with me. In fact, he denied it but later it came out that what he was saying was a lie,” Mr Jakpa said.
He noted that when the alleged tape recording was released, it was evident that it was not from Justice Kulendi’s house but rather a call from the Attorney General.
“It was the Attorney General who called me on his phone and tried to impress upon me to commit a crime. So this issue of Justice Yonny Kulendi, they started it, thinking it was from his house, and they went after him,” Mr Jakpa added.
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