The third accused person in the ongoing ambulance case, Richard Jakpa, has admitted not submitting the entirety of his WhatsApp conversation with Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame to the court.
During cross-examination by the lawyers of Ato Forson, evidence of WhatsApp and audio conversations between Jakpa and Dame was tendered through Jakpa. However, the prosecution suggested that the submitted evidence did not represent the entire conversation between Jakpa and Dame.
Jakpa explained that he only presented relevant parts of the conversation that supported his case.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Yvonne Attakora-Obuobisa, further suggested that despite Jakpa sending 68 messages to Dame, Dame only responded to two. Jakpa countered this view as unfair, clarifying that while it is true Dame responded to only two messages, the WhatsApp conversation did not capture their entire communication. Jakpa explained that Dame made some requests for documents orally, and Jakpa responded through WhatsApp, which is why the chats show only two responses from Dame.
The prosecution also revealed that the first instance of assistance from the Attorney General to Jakpa was at the request of Justice Yonni Kulendi, Jakpa’s cousin. Jakpa confirmed this, explaining that it occurred when he was granted bail and had met the conditions but was being administratively frustrated.
The Lands Commission wanted another valuation of land presented for the bail bond, potentially causing Jakpa to spend additional days on remand. Jakpa then messaged Justice Kulendi, who engaged the Attorney General to intervene. Following this intervention, Jakpa obtained Dame’s number from his cousin, contacted Dame to express appreciation, and later arranged a meeting to explain his side of the case. This led to his first meeting with Dame.
However, the prosecution noted that during the intervention to ensure the bail conditions were met, Dame did not speak to Jakpa. Jakpa denied this assertion.
