The third accused in the high-profile ambulance trial, Richard Jakpa, has revealed in court that he met with Attorney General Godfred Dame on four different occasions.
This admission came after Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe allowed an audio recording of a conversation between Jakpa and Dame into evidence.
Jakpa’s disclosure gave lawyers representing Ato Forson an opportunity to question him extensively on his claims that the Attorney General pressured him at odd hours to incriminate Forson.
When asked how many times he had met with Attorney General Godfred Dame, Jakpa stated that they met four times, all at the residence of his cousin, Supreme Court Judge Justice Yonny Kulendi.
He noted that these meetings occurred between 9:30 PM and 11:30 PM.
According to Jakpa, two of these meetings took place in 2022, specifically in February and July.
During cross-examination, he revealed that the first meeting on February 16, 2020, was initiated at his request.
He wanted to explain his side of the story to the Attorney General, believing the charges against him were baseless.
At this initial meeting, Jakpa claims Dame assured him that he would be discharged during the ruling on the submission of no case.
For the second meeting in July 2022, Jakpa indicated that he was summoned to Kulendi’s house to meet the Attorney General.
He decided to cooperate based on the earlier assurances of his discharge from the case.
Jakpa further alleged that at this meeting, Dame requested specific documents he had previously provided to the Economic and Organized Crime Office, which Jakpa agreed to share.
The documents included an addendum to the main contract for the ambulance supply and a letter from former Health Minister Alex Segbefia nominating government officials to travel to Dubai to discuss the contract with Big Sea.
Jakpa hoped that by sharing these documents, the Attorney General would recognize his innocence.
Jakpa also disclosed that there was another meeting in March 2024, just days before he opened his defence, as well as a meeting before the ruling on the submission of no case in 2023.
ALSO READ: