Godfred Dame Defends Controversial Call To Richard Jakpa As He Opens Up On Ambulance Case

• Former Attorney-General Godfred Dame has defended his secretly recorded phone call with businessman Richard Jakpa
• Addressing a press conference on February 14, Dame insisted that his advice to Jakpa to obtain a medical report was not borne out of ill intent
• The Former Attorney-General also said that the recording marked the only time he and Jakpa had a conversation during the trial

Former Attorney-General Godfred Dame has shed more light on his secretly recorded phone call with businessman Richard Jakpa.

Dame claims that the recording marked the only time he and Jakpa had a conversation during the ambulance trial.

In the said secret recording, there is a suggestion that Dame wanted Jakpa to use medical grounds as cause to not testify in court. Dame tried to get him to obtain a purportedly fake medical excuse duty.

But addressing the press on February 14, Dame insisted that his advice to Jakpa to obtain a medical report was not borne out of ill intent but rather a genuine suggestion in light of Jakpa’s health condition and his tight schedule due to an international case he was handling.

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"Not knowing he had that illicit agenda and was secretly recording and was saying the things that he got on the tape, which came from him and not from me."

Dame further noted that Jakpa eventually secured an adjournment in court based on his health condition.

"When he went, he actually obtained the adjournment because he was not well. So the fact of my asking him to obtain a medical certificate because he was not well was nothing but factual."

In his earlier reaction to the controversy, Dame said poetically that a trap had been laid for him. He also refused to recuse himself from the case despite the ethical breaches.

Dame faced calls to resign after the National Democratic Congress released the 16-minute recording as proof Dame also allegedly tried to coerce a witness against now-Finance Minister Cassiel Forson in the ambulance case.

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The controversy began when Jakpa said in that he had been pressured to provide testimony detrimental to Forson.

He said that the attorney general had been calling him at odd hours.

According to the NDC, the tape substantiates Jakpa’s claims and raises serious questions about the Attorney General's conduct in this high-profile case.

Forson was accused of causing the state financial loss of €2.37 million.

The case concerns a government deal to purchase 200 ambulances between 2014 and 2016 when Forson was the deputy finance minister.

Acquittal from court of appeal

YEN.com.gh reported that the Court of Appeal acquitted Forson in the ambulance case, saying an earlier ruling dismissing Forson's challenge of the case was erroneous.

Jakpa was also acquitted in the case.

A panel of three judges in a 2-1 majority decision said the earlier ruling on the submission was an error.

Source: YEN.com.gh