The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is demanding the immediate resignation or dismissal of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, over his alleged secret engagements with the third accused in the ambulance case, Richard Jakpa.
The opposition party also wants President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the General Legal Council to institute criminal and disciplinary proceedings against the A-G respectively.
The National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, at a press conference in Accra yesterday said if the president failed to bring criminal charges against Mr Dame, a future NDC government would do so.
The NDC yesterday released alleged audio and WhatsApp conversations between Mr Dame and Mr Jakpa to back the allegation by the accused that the A-G had been impressing on him to give evidence to implicate the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, who is the first accused in the trial.
According to Mr Nketia, the allegation which they sought to prove goes to the heart of justice administration in the country and the A-G must be shown the exit and punished for his alleged conduct.
In the 16-minute audio tape which the Ghanaian Times cannot independently verify, the alleged voice of the Attorney-General was heard coaching Mr Jakpa on what to say when he mounts the witness box in court; a direction the third accused rejected.
The voice was also heard telling Mr Jakpa to procure a fake medical excuse duty to have his cross examination put on hold until he, the Attorney-General, returned from a foreign trip.
The above and others, the NDC argued, breached the professional code of conduct for the legal profession and Mr Dame must be made to face the music.
“Godfred Dame has brought shame and disrepute to the honourable office of the Attorney-General with his criminal, devious and vicious conduct,” the NDC Chairman said.
The Attorney-General’s alleged engagement with the third accused, Mr Asiedu Nketia said breaches Rules 13, 40 and 54 of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct and Etiquette Rules) L.I. 2324.
Rule 13 of the L.I which is on communication with a represented party for instance states that a lawyer shall not approach, communicate or deal with a represented person on a matter or attempt to negotiate or compromise a matter directly with a represented person except through or with the consent of the lawyer of that represented person.
Having allegedly done this, Mr Asiedu Nketia said the Attorney-General “is a danger to fairness and justice in our judicial system and represents the lowest point in the history of persons who have occupied the hallowed office of Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.”
To this end, the NDC wants a publicly-televised Parliamentary inquiry into the allegation and other reports of “judicial manipulations” by Mr Dame with a view to censure him to prevent the recurrence of such manipulations.
The party held that the defence put up by Mr Dame after the revelation by Mr Jakpa was a post-facto rationalisation to deceive the Ghanaian people.
Mr Dame in a statement after the claim by Mr Jakpa said “The Republic has never required or desired the cooperation of any of the accused persons in the matter, in which it has already succeeded in establishing a prima facie case against all the accused persons. 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.”
Mr Jakpa stirred controversy last Thursday when he told an Accra High Court hearing the case that the Attorney-General has been engaging him at “ungodly” hours to give testimony to criminally implicate Dr Forson, MP for Ajumako/Enyan/ Esiam.
Mr Jakpa and Dr Forson are standing trial for their involvement in the procurement of 200 ambulances in 2016; a transaction the A-G’s department said caused financial loss to the state.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
