Yaw Buaben Asamoa, a senior policy advisor to the founder and leader of the Movement for Change, Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, has said the judge handling the ambulance purchase trial has set a jurisdiction to rule on the matter.
He says the admission of the tape and WhatsApp conversations between the Attorney-General (A-G), Godfred Yeboah Dame, and Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the matter, is an establishment of jurisdiction.
Mr. Buaben Asamoa holds the assertion that Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe has the opportunity to establish a national standard when it comes to adjudicating matters of such political nature in the country.
Speaking on the KeyPoints on TV3 Saturday, June 22, 2024, the former Member of Parliament for Adentan averred that since the matter is criminal in nature, and considering the fact that some public officials were finding means to incriminate other people to serve the interest of other public officials, the state would have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, is guilty.
The former Director of Communications for the NPP admonished the trial judge to be bold and demonstrate what would set a standard in the history of Ghana’s judiciary.
“So, now the judge in this case, high profile as it is, has an opportunity, to establish a national standard when it comes to these political trials and the standard, she must be bold enough to demonstrate, like I said, it’s on the three fronts; whether the state can prove conclusively, beyond reasonable doubt, whether Ato Forson is guilty.
“This is criminal law, the burden of proof is not political and the judge must go further to look at the conduct of officials involved –public servants in the exercise of their public duty to the public,” he urged.
The former legislator continued that: “In court, abusing that duty in order to achieve public ends to the benefit of other public holders… because essentially if the state is to be believed, that is what is happening. What was happening was that public officials were trying to bend the issue to suit the incumbent politicians.”
“So, now that the judge has gone as far as admitting the tape into evidence, she has established the jurisdiction to rule on that matter,” he explained.
He added that the judge will not rule the matter without averting her mind to the advice she gave the A-G to recuse himself which he didn’t heed to.
Mr. Asamoa was commenting on the admission of a full WhatsApp conversation between the A-G and third accused into evidence by the court,
Background
An Accra High Court admitted into evidence, the full WhatsApp messages between Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the ongoing ambulance procurement trial and the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame. Richard Jakpa had earlier presented portions of the conversation to the court which was admitted.
However, the prosecution submitted the full chat which was accepted by the presiding judge, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, indicating the court cannot reject the full chat since it had earlier accepted portions of it which were presented by the third defendant, Richard Jakpa.
She, however, stated that the weight of the evidence presented could only be determined by the court.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, during proceedings on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, shed light on the significant number of messages the third accused sent in contrast to the few ones Mr. Dame responded to.
Mr. Jakpa admitted that he introduced himself to the Attorney-General before the trial and obtained the Justice Minister’s contact information through his cousin, Supreme Court Judge, Justice Yonny Kulendi.
Under cross-examination, he acknowledged that the messages presented in court did not represent the entire conversation but were selectively chosen for their relevance to his case.
Meanwhile, counsel for the defence, Thaddeus Sory, objected to the full conversation saying they would need more to review the messages thoroughly.
The court had earlier admitted into evidence, a tape containing a telephone conversation between the A-G and Mr. Jakpa, where Mr. Dame is accused of impressing upon Jakpa to falsify his testimony against the first accused, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
It was an advice, I won’t recuse myself – Dame responds to judge on ambulance purchase trial
