A private legal practitioner, Justice Abdulai, is saying the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, is supposed to know better when it comes to the standards of the law.
He says Mr. Dame should set a standard higher than that of the law, bearing in mind his position as the Attorney General of the land.
This is in reference to the Attorney General’s comments regarding how Richard Jakpa’s cross-examination has rendered the allegations leveled against him (Dame) useless.
Speaking to attendees at a UK Town Hall meeting, Sunday, June 23, 2024, the A-G indicated that the lies of the NDC have traveled beyond the borders of Ghana where people were even discussing him at a barbering salon in London.
“I’m saying that we should resist all the lies, deceptions and deceit of the NDC. In UK, my brother who lives there called me anxiously last time, he entered a barber shop… talking about the Attorney-General, they didn’t know that the Attorney-General’s brother was next in line for his hair to be cut. But again, the lies, deception and deceit of the NDC was at work,” he stated.
The Attorney-General added that the allegations levelled against him have crumbled following the cross-examination of Richard Jakpa, who made those claims against him.
Quoting a statement made by the President during the 2020 electioneering campaign, Godfred Dame said the allegations against him, “as the President would say, ‘atɔ nsuom
“Within a matter of two days where we started our cross-examination of the person who was spreading all those lies, you see how the matter is going? Their case has, as the President would say, ‘case no atɔ nsuom‘. So indeed we should resist the deception, deceit, lies of the NDC. They will come with all kinds of presentation about every major action or step taken by this government,” he urged the gathering.
But reacting to the issue on Ghana Tonight Monday, June 24, 2024, Justice Abdulai noted that the Godfred Dame made those comments out of desperation.
He says the A-G is only trying to play a psychological game.
“It’s a sign of desperation by the Attorney-General who is trying everything possible to play the psychological game on this case and I wouldn’t blame him because Richard Jakpa is doing the same thing, trying to continuously, after every court appearance, grant interview and seeks to push strongly forward, his case. And it looks like the A-G is learning from that and is also trying to do the same, except that the conclusive nature of the Attorney-General’s pronouncement is rather worrying,” he said.
With Godfred Dame’s position as the State’s lawyer, Justice Abdulai felt his act was “wrongful”.
“You can’t do that in law, especially when you are the A-G. The standards must be higher than what an ordinary person will do. Nobody can hold Richard Jakpa to any standards but the Attorney General will be held to the standards of the profession. He is supposed to know better and not prejudice the mind of the court,” he told Alfred Ocansey Monday.
Background
Richard Jakpa, the third defendant in the ongoing ambulance purchase trial alleged in court Thursday, May 23, 2024, that the Attorney-General had encouraged him to provide false testimony against Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson in the ongoing case.
The NDC, following the claims, released a 16-minute audio recording as evidence to support Mr. Jakpa’s allegations.
The recording purportedly captures a conversation between Godfred Dame and Jakpa, wherein Dame is alleged to have coached Jakpa on the statements to make in court, targeting Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, at the press conference the party held Tuesday, May 28, explained that the tape depicted a coaching session aimed at influencing Jakpa’s court testimony.
However, in response to the NDC’s revelations, NPP legal practitioner Frank Davies addressed the press on the same day.
He argued that the tape contained repetitions, overlaps, and voice distortions, suggesting that the NDC had manipulated the alleged recording they presented.
Meanwhile, the court has admitted into evidence, the audio recording and some WhatsApp conversation between the two, which the A-G says a cross-examination on it has exposed the NDC.
Ambulance trial: Jakpa’s tape cements Ghana’s state as a ‘banana republic’ – Kpebu
