Ambulance Case: Justice Srem-Sai Joins to Demand Probe into Allegations Against AG

A growing number of lawyers in the country are joining the call for an inquiry into allegations that the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, asked the third accused person in the ongoing ambulance procurement trial to incriminate the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.

The latest is a private legal practitioner and law lecturer, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, who is advocating for a special probe to bring closure to the controversy.

Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the trial, claimed that the Attorney-General previously approached him to help build a case against Dr Forson, who is also the former Deputy Finance Minister. During cross-examination by counsel for the Minority Leader, Jakpa was cautioned by the trial judge, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, to be direct in his responses and avoid wasting the court’s time.

In response to the judge’s caution, Attorney-General Yeboah Dame accused Jakpa of defending the Minority Leader, prompting Jakpa to assert that the Attorney-General was aggrieved.

“The A-G has on several occasions engaged me at odd hours to help him make a case against A1 and I have evidence for that. If he pushes me, I will open the Pandora’s box. I don’t understand why the A-G will accuse me of defending A1 when I’m here to defend myself,” Jakpa said in court.

Speaking to Accra-based Joy News on the back of this, Dr Srem-Sai emphasized the need for a special probe due to the serious nature of the allegation and its implications for the country’s criminal justice system.

“So if you look at all the commissions of inquiry from the May 9 disaster, it is when things like this happen which have never happened before and we want an honest and open conversation about them.”

“And we want a permanent solution to some of these things, we set up a Commission of Inquiry to have an open conversation,” he said.

On his part, Samson Lardy Anyenini, another lawyer agreed Drh Dr. Srem-Sai’s view, adding that the allegations warrant the attention of relevant state institutions.

“He may be frustrated but to say the things he says, and considering the consequences of the things he says, I will think that they are serious enough, warranting the attention of the right institution for what has to be done,” he added.

Meanwhile, Isaac Wilberforce Mensah, a spokesperson for the Attorney-General’s Department has clarified that during the time the meeting took place, Mr Jakpa was without counsel.

“At the material time that these meetings took place, Mr Jakpa was not represented by counsel.”

“If you look at Act 10 (79), an Attorney-General can do these plea negotiations either with the accused person or his counsel. Now this particular accused person in the course of this trial has changed lawyers about four times,” he added.

Source: Newsalertgh