Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame has firmly rejected accusations of attempting to implicate Minority Leader and former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, in the ongoing ambulance purchase trial.
On Thursday, May 23, Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the trial, alleged in court that Dame approached him at unusual hours, urging him to incriminate Dr. Forson. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, further accused Dame of orchestrating a plot to imprison Ato Forson.
In response, the Attorney-General released a statement urging the public to dismiss these allegations. Dame emphasized that the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice categorically denies the NDC’s claims, maintaining their commitment to prosecuting the case diligently.
“The public is entreated to disregard the allegations. The Attorney-General remains focused on a zealous prosecution of the case,” the statement read.
Dame clarified that the prosecution’s case is built solely on evidence from transaction records related to the ambulance purchase, which were submitted before the trial began in January 2022. He stated that the prosecution has neither required nor sought cooperation from any accused persons to build its case.
“It is rather the third accused who has proposed plea bargaining or plea negotiations on multiple occasions, which have not been accepted by the Attorney-General,” Dame added.
Despite pressures to discontinue the prosecution of Dr. Forson, Dame has refused to do so. He even mentioned possessing video evidence of Dr. Forson pleading for the case to be dropped.
“Even though the law on plea bargaining passed by Parliament permits a prosecutor to negotiate with an accused person after a plea proposal has been made, the Attorney-General has not engaged the third accused person to give false testimony in the matter,” he asserted.
The Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice considers the latest allegations part of a broader scheme by the NDC to pressure Dame into discontinuing the prosecution or to divert attention from the real issues regarding the accused persons’ actions, which have allegedly caused significant financial loss to the state.
Earlier, during cross-examination by Dr. Forson’s counsel, Richard Jakpa alleged that the Attorney-General sought his help to implicate Dr. Forson. Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, presiding over the trial, admonished Jakpa to provide direct answers and avoid wasting the court’s time. Jakpa’s claims led to a heated exchange in court, where he asserted that Dame contacted him at odd hours to build a case against Dr. Forson.
