Court Admits Richard Jakpa’s Audio Recording as Key Evidence in Ambulance Fraud Case

The High Court in Accra has accepted into evidence the audio recording between Richard Jakpa and Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame for the cross-examination of Richard Jakpa.

This is after the Office of the Attorney General rejected the relevance of the audio to the main trial.

The judge, however, after reviewing the arguments for and against its admission ruled that it should be admitted.

Lawyers for Ato Forson have since begun cross-examining Richard Jakpa on the audio.

The third accused recorded a telephone conversation with the Godfred Dame, in which the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was to coerce the accused to implicate former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.

Richard Jakpa defended his decision to do the recording.

A judge presiding over the tape ruled that it did not contain instructions from Godfred Dame for Mr. Jakpa to implicate Ato Forson.

The audio conversation was tendered as part of exhibits by Ato Forson in support of an application for mistrial he filed at the court.

Justice Afia Serwah Asare Botwe, in dismissing the application for mistrial, assessed the content of the recording, after dismissing the Attorney General’s objection to the tendering of the pen drive containing the audio.

The Judge noted that the conversation reveals an engagement between Richard Jakpa and Godfred Dame.

However, the Conversation does not support claims that the Attorney General asked Richard Jakpa to implicate Ato Forson.

She also found that the Attorney General did not make a statement that he needed the help of Richard Jakpa to implicate Ato Forson.

She noted that those claims were rather made by Richard Jakpa.

According to Justice Afia Serwah Asare Botwe, those are rather the words of Richard Jakpa.