The third individual accused in the ongoing ambulance case has acknowledged that he did not submit the complete WhatsApp conversation between himself and Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame to the court.
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During cross-examination, lawyers representing Ato Forson presented evidence, through Richard Jakpa, of WhatsApp chats and audio conversations between Richard Jakpa and Godfred Dame.
Amid the prosecution’s cross-examination, Richard Jakpa was informed that the evidence presented might not completely depict the entire conversation between himself and Godfred Dame.
Richard Jakpa clarified that he had only submitted the relevant portions of the conversation that were pertinent to his case.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Yvonne Attakora-Obuobisa, additionally implied to the third accused person that despite sending 68 messages to Godfred Dame, he only received responses to two of them.
Richard Jakpa explained that he found the view pushed by the Director of Public Prosecutions to be unfair. While acknowledging the truth in her claim that he sent 68 messages to Godfred Dame and received responses to only two, Jakpa clarified that the WhatsApp conversation did not capture the entire scope of their discussions. He elaborated that in some cases, Godfred Dame verbally requested certain documents, to which Jakpa responded via WhatsApp. This dynamic, Jakpa explained, contributed to the disparity in response rates visible in the chat records.
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The prosecution also disclosed that the initial assistance provided to Richard Jakpa by the Attorney General was upon the request of Justice Yonni Kulendi, who happens to be Richard Jakpa’s cousin.
Richard Jakpa confirmed this and clarified that it occurred when he had fulfilled the bail conditions but faced administrative hurdles.
He pointed out that the Lands Commission required a new valuation of the land that had been submitted to secure the bail bond. This situation meant that he could potentially spend additional days in custody awaiting administrative processes.
In response, Richard Jakpa sent a message to Justice Kulendi, who subsequently involved the Attorney General to intervene in the matter.
He explained that it was following this intervention that he obtained Godfred Dame’s number from his cousin, Justice Kulendi, and subsequently contacted Godfred Dame to express his appreciation.
He then followed up with another text to arrange a meeting with Godfred Dame to explain his side of the case. This led to his first meeting with Godfred Dame.
The prosecution, however, pointed out that during the intervention to ensure the bail conditions were met, Godfred Dame did not communicate directly with Richard Jakpa. Jakpa denied this assertion.
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