The Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice has disclosed that there has been intense pressure from all manner of persons to discontinue the ambulance purchase trial involving Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
Richard Jakpa, the third accused, alleged in open court that Attorney General Godfred Dame approached him multiple times, seeking his assistance to implicate Dr. Ato Forson.
During cross-examination, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe admonished Jakpa to provide direct answers instead of evading questions and wasting the court’s time.
In response to the judge’s caution, the Attorney-General accused Jakpa of defending the Minority Leader. This prompted a fiery reaction from Jakpa, who claimed the AG had repeatedly contacted him at odd hours to build a case against Dr Forson.
The AG in a statement said the third accused rather in a series of letters requested plea bargaining which has not been accepted.
“It is rather the third accused who, by various letters dated 27th April 2023, 16th May 2023, 30th May 2023 and 12th June 2023, has proposed to the Republic through the Attorney-General to engage in plea bargaining or plea negotiations. This plea bargaining proposal has, to date, not been accepted by the Attorney-General.
“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.
The Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice stated that the latest allegation is part of a grand scheme by the NDC to put more pressure on him to discontinue the prosecution or to divert attention from the real issues
“The Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice considers the latest allegation levelled against the Attorney-General as part of a grand scheme by the NDC to put more pressure on him to discontinue the prosecution or to divert attention from the real issues regarding the actions of the accused persons which have caused enormous financial loss to the State.
“The Attorney-General has also come under enormous pressure from all manner of persons for him to discontinue the prosecution of the 1st accused person, Cassiel Ato Forson, but has not yielded.”
The A-G said neither the Attorney-General nor any officer from the Office of the Attorney-General has approached any of the accused persons with the view to obtaining evidence from them.
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