Ambulance trial: Show us the part of the tape which is doctored – Sammy Gyamfi challenges NPP
The National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, has challenged the NPP to release the original audio containing the alleged conversation between Attorney-General Godfred Dame and the third accused person in the ongoing ambulance trial Richard Jakpa, if they (NPP) claim the tape in possession of the NDC is doctored.
According to Mr Gyamfi, that is the only way the Attorney-General could back his claims of manipulation of the said tape.
This comes after Frank Davies, a private legal practitioner with the NPP, argued that the NDC had said they had a 26-minute conversation but played just 16 minutes at their press conference.
“Nobody can tell anyone in this country the circumstances under which that conversation took place. They are saying it was a day before the court hearing. But if you listen carefully, you will realize that it is a pieced-up document because you will never really hear coherently what the AG has said. It was only Jakpa’s voice which was always heightened and you hear him speaking,” Frank Davies argued.
In rebuttal, Sammy Gyamfi said, “You don’t even have the locus in law to say the tape is doctored because what you’re saying is total hearsay. You were not on that phone call. The person who was on that phone call is Mr Dame, who is very vibrant in the media. Neither Mr Dame nor his spokesperson, my good friend Wilberforce, has been able, since we put this tape on any media platform, to say that the tape was doctored.
“The Office of the Attorney General has also not been able to say that the tape was doctored. So that wishy-washy response is very weak. We can’t work with it. Again, he [Frank Davies] said that the tape is pieced together, so you should tell us which parts of the tape we have heard were pieced together. You don’t deny that there was a call? You don’t deny that the voice on the call was Mr Dame me. You say that possibly piece together which part has been pieced together. Show us?”
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, a former deputy finance minister, is facing trial together with Mr Jakpa for allegedly causing a €2.37 million financial loss to the state over an ambulance deal.
His lawyers submitted the application on Thursday, May 30, 2024.
The application presented by Thaddeus Sory of Messrs Sory@ Law argued that the charges against Mr Jakpa were unfounded and should be dismissed.
In a dramatic twist, Mr Jakpa testified under oath in his witness statement that the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has had several conversations with him during which Mr Dame assured him of his innocence and guaranteed his acquittal.
Mr Jakpa alleges that the Attorney-General confided in him that his inclusion in the prosecution was a disguise to obscure the trial’s true objectives.