Judge to decide on whether to admit audio concerning A-G, Jakpa on June 13 - Ambulance case

The admissibility of the audio tape containing the Attorney-General, the businessman,High Court, the Minority Leader, and others in the ambulance case will be decided by the Financial and Economic Court 2 of the High Court in Accra on June 13, 2024.

At today's (June 11) case call, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe presided over a brief playback of the audio file to verify its authenticity before hearing arguments from the defense and state's attorneys over the file's admissibility.

Dr. Forson's attorneys want to present the audio recording via the businessman, Mr. Richard Jakpa, who is presently the subject of cross-examination.


Disputed claims

After the audio been played, however, Public Prosecution Director Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa objected to its admission into evidence, arguing that there was not enough groundwork to support its inclusion in the continuing trial.

She contended that the judge's decision to end proceedings or order a mistrial was based solely on the audio because the court wanted to know if the Attorney-General intended to implicate Dr. Forson using Jakpa's evidence.


The importance that my girlfriend places on this recording is minimal.

To admit this tape as evidence would be completely irrelevant. It doesn't help the court decide on the merits of the case, she remarked.

The DPP went on to say that the audio did not pass the constitutional test for admissibility, in addition to not being relevant.

The tape violates the Attorney-General's right to privacy, she said, adding, "You record somebody because you want to prevent the commission of a crime." This is despite the fact that no crime has been committed, she continued.


The DPP cited the coup conspiracy trial, where an audio recording was permitted into evidence due to its purpose of preventing a crime, to support her case.

We demonstrated correct custody and chain of custody, explained what had been done, and created the groundwork for admission of the tape. According to the DPP, the attorneys involved in this case have failed to do all of that.

Defence

In contrast, Dr. Abdul Basit Aziz Bamba, who represented Dr. Forson, said that the claim that the audio was inadmissible was baseless.
He maintained that the audio's subject matter was pertinent to the proceedings since it dealt with the substantive case materials, including the supply agreement and the Ministry of Finance's authorization to the Bank of Ghana to establish letters of credit.



The attorney went on to say that the audio was relevant to the substantive issue as the court found it relevant and admitted it to make a determination in the request for mistrial.

"We argue that for the same reasons and more that the court assigned for admitting that evidence into tape in that application—those same reasons and more apply to the current trial," counsel stated.

Concerning the lack of a basis, Dr. Bamba informed the court that Mr. Jakpa had acknowledged having contacts with the A-G and that these conversations had been recorded.

He went on to say that the court had ordered them to submit the recording and make it public because of that "Since it's not a complete surprise, tendering this tape is a logical next step," he explained,

Background

Between 2014 and 2016, the country was supposed to buy 200 ambulances from Dr. Forson and Jakpa, but they allegedly cost the public €2.37 million.

On charges of purposefully injuring the state's finances, conspiring to cause financial losses to the state, violating the Public Procurement Act, and purposefully misusing public property, they have entered not guilty pleas.

According to the facts provided by the Attorney General in support of the charge sheet, the then-President, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, mentioned the procurement of new ambulances to increase the National Ambulance Service's operations in 2009 during his State of the Nation Address.


Jakpa, a local agent for the Dubai-based firm Big Sea General Trading Limited, subsequently went to the Ministry of Health to propose the purchase of 200 ambulances, for which he had secured funding from Stanbic Bank.

The government and Stanbic Bank's funding deal was authorized by Parliament.

The facts show that Dr. Anemana requested permission to contract Big Sea through single sourcing to deliver 200 ambulances on November 19, 2012, via the Public Procurement Authority (PPA).
Not only that, but on August 7, 2014, Dr. Forson requested €3.95 million in letters of credit from the Bank of Ghana to fund the purchase of 50 ambulances for Big Sea. As a result, Big Sea received the letters of credit.

According to the facts, 30 ambulances were bought for €2.37 million, however they were all deemed "not fit for purpose" since they did not meet the required standards.

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