Lawyer for ACP Dr. Benjamin Kwasi Agordzo, Martin Luther Kpebu, has asserted that the trial of his client over accusations of planning a coup d’etat was a charade, something he says the Attorney-General was aware from the beginning of the matter.
He says government knew he had no case but engineered something against his client just to create a charade. Mr. Kpebu, speaking on TV3’s The KeyPoints with Alfred Ocansey Saturday, January 27, 2024, explained the contents in the supposed WhatsApp message which was taken to be an intention to stage a coup d’etat.
According to Mr. Kpebu, ACP Agordzo had said “there would be a big bang. So big bang meaning that if you go on a demonstration, try and capture the attention of the media so that there would be so much discussion of it. Then they said big bang, maybe they were thinking about the Rawlings ‘boom speech’ or something. So their main case was that the big bang meant that that’s the coup d’etat.”
“So he having said there would be an Arab spring, go on a demonstration, here is a draft speech I’ve seen somewhere, you can modify it and then there would be a big bang on the demonstration when you read this speech; it will capture the attention of the media and so that will catapult the organisation seeking to hold government accountable –and so that’s the big bang and that’s the case that the state ruled on,” he explained.
The private legal practitioner, therefore averred that the Attorney-General only wanted to create an impression of the circumstances that led to the overthrow of Nkrumah by accusing officers of the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service of planning to take out the reigning administration.
“Godfred Dame always knew there was no case. It was just a charade, just to prop up the case to make it look like police officers and the military –like the coup against Kwame Nkrumah, once you put in a police officer, you put in army officers like the military cum police coup d’etat in 1966. You know that’s how the coup against Kwame Nkrumah was styled,” Martin Kpebu indicated.
Mr. Kpebu’s client, ACP Benjamin Agordzo, has, after a five-year trial been acquitted with two others after being accused of planning a coup d’etat.
The judgment, handed down by the three-member panel of judges on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, marked a significant turn in the legal proceedings surrounding the alleged plot to oust a government.
The two other persons who were accused alongside ACP Agordzo, were Colonel Gameli, and another junior military officer, Corporal Seidu Abubakar, who were both acquitted.
The late Dr. Frederick Yao Mac Palm, the alleged mastermind of the entire plot, was posthumously declared the first accused. The second accused, Donya Kafui, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit high treason and high treason. Similarly, the third accused, Bright Allan Debrah Ofosu, faced convictions on charges of conspiracy to commit high treason and high treason.
Warrant Officer Class Two Esther Saan Dekuwine, the sole female among the accused, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit high treason but not guilty of high treason. On the other hand, Cpl Seidu Abubakar, the seventh accused, was acquitted of both conspiracy to commit high treason and high treason. Lance Corporal Ali Solomon, the eighth accused, received a mixed verdict, being found guilty of conspiracy but not guilty of high treason.
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Coup plot
The charges stem from an alleged plot to destabilise the country, with the accused facing accusations of conspiracy to commit high treason, abetment to high treason, and high treason. The trial, which commenced on June 8, 2021, caught the nation’s attention due to its high-profile nature.
Supporters of the accused gathered in the courtroom, expressing relief and jubilation at the acquittal of ACP Dr Benjamin Kwasi Agordzo. The trial had been ongoing since April 2021, with the judgment date set on November 22, 2023, following extensive legal arguments and the presentation of witnesses.
The prosecution team, led by Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame, presented a formidable case, including testimony from seven soldiers. In contrast, the defence, comprising lawyers such as Rita Akukunti Ali, Victor Kodjogah Adawudu, and others, vigorously defended their clients throughout the proceedings.
The fallout from this trial is expected to resonate across the legal and political landscape, raising questions about the nature of the charges and the complexities surrounding the alleged coup plot. As the nation absorbs the verdict, the implications of this high-profile case are likely to reverberate for some time to come.
