AG tenders all 68 whatsapp messages from Richard Jakpa to Dame; defense lawyers object

The State during today's cross-examination presented to the court 68 whatsapp messages sent from Richard Jakpa, the 3rd accused in the ongoing Ato Forson trial and the only 2 responses by the learned Attorney-General to the 68 messages of Richard Jakpa.

The State sought to tender the full complement of whatsapp messages sent by Mr. Jakpa to Hon. Godfred Dame after the Director of Public Prosecutions, the learned Mrs. Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa shot the question of the number of messages sent by Mr. Jakpa to the A-G and the number of messages which the A-G sent in response to those 68 messages.

The learned DPP prior to questions of the 68 messages sent by Mr. Jakpa to the A-G sought to suggest to Mr. Jakpa that he introduced himself to the AG and that prior to the commencement of his trial he was unknown to the learned Attorney-General to which the 3rd accused Richard Jakpa agreed to.

In his response to the question, he said he got the A-G's number from his cousin, the respected Yonny Kulendi J.S.C. Mr. Jakpa upon cross-examination also answered in the positive that the messages he presented to the court through his evidence by way of cross-examination by the 1st accused was not the full complement of the whatsapp messages between the AG and himself. In his response to the completeness of their whatsapp discussion, he said he presented that which he found to be relevant to his case.

As part of his response, he suggested that the other messages he sent which per the A-G is 68 in number are motivational messages among others sent by him to the A-G after receiving the number of the A-G from Justice Kulendi.

Objection by Sory & Dr. Bamba

The learned DPP sought to tender the conversation between the accused and the learned A-G but was stopped in her tracks at the stage of admission by an objection by the learned Sory, counsel for the 3rd accused.

Per Mr. Sory, he would not ordinarily object to the tendering but he will do so as defense will be deprived of ample time to study the 68 whatsapp messages. Her Ladyship Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe who moved her gaze from the learned Sory to Dr. Bamba and requested if he also had any objection to the tendering of the whatsapp messages.

Dr. Bamba like his learned friend Mr. Sory hurriedly registered his reservation given the opportunity to. He said he objects on the basis that the print out of the chat is not in coloured form. This came as a bewildering surprise to her Ladyship as the whatsapp print-out offered by Mr. Jakpa himself was not coloured.

More time to study

The Court after listening to the objections raised by Counsels for the accused therefore requested the learned DPP to hold unto the tendering and offer same on thursday when counsels for the defense have had ample time to study the whatsapp messages.

Jakpa calls A-G to thank him

With this cue from the bench, the learned DPP moved on with her cross-examination which now centered on the assistance offered by the AG to Mr, Jakpa. The learned DPP suggested to Mr. Jakpa in her cross-examination that the first time the A-G gave him any assistance was when his cousin, Yonny Kulendi JSC sought assistance from the AG to help him secure his liberty from arrest and detention after satisfying the bail conditions ordered by the court.

Mr. Jakpa said he requested the number of the A-G from Yonny Kulendi. Yonny Kulendi who had learnt about the administrative delays in Mr. Jakpa securing his liberty after satisfying the bail bond, sought assistance from the A-G to ensure the liberty of his cousin.

Mr. Jakpa said he called the A-G after securing his liberty to thank him for facilitating the securing of his liberty after he was facing challenges securing same after satisfying the bail conditions.

Credibility of Jakpa

The respected DPP began her cross-examination with question bordering on the insubordination of Mr. Jakpa as a military officer, his dismissal per the AG from the Armed Forces and his inability to pass his promotional exams five times from the year 2002.

Mr. Jakpa strongly put in a defense to his credibility by offering evidence of his remarkable academic achievements both in Ghana and abroad and stated that his inability to pass those exams were as a result of victimization and unfair treatment by his superiors.

Adjournment

Court will continue sittings on the trial on 20th day of June, 2024. The court will also hear both parties, that is the State and Mr. Cassiel Ato Forson who have filed for further disclosures