By Abraham Amaliba, the Director of Conflict Resolution for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has strongly dismissed suggestions that the tape capturing a conversation between the Attorney General and the third accused person in the ambulance procurement trial was doctored.
Mr. Amaliba contended that such assertions serve as a diversionary tactic, intended to redirect attention from the content of the tape. He urged the public to focus on the substantive issues raised in the recording.
This follows an allegation by Richard Jakpa, an accused individual standing trial alongside Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, for allegedly causing a financial loss of €2.37 million to the state in a deal to procure ambulances.
Mr. Jakpa claimed in court that Mr. Dame had persistently sought his assistance to implicate Dr. Forson in the ongoing trial.
During a press conference on Tuesday, NDC National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia played a secret recording of the AG and Jakpa, cautioning that if the president fails to comply with their demands to dismiss him from office and impose sanctions, a future NDC government will take measures.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM show, Mr Amaliba stated, “this is an afterthought; it is just to try to altercate the issue, but if you say a tape is doctored, it does not mean the content is not true. It is different when you say the tape is a false tape and then you want to say the entire content is wrong.
“In any case, this is a tape that we all can hear the Attorney General clearly on, and we know his voice clearly on that tape, so to say that this tape is doctored is an afterthought [and an attempt] to alter the issue and then divert attention from the issue.”
He accused the Attorney General of several instances of misconduct. Amaliba outlined three specific allegations, asserting that the Attorney General breached ethics within the legal profession.
Firstly, he noted that the Attorney General allegedly instructed a witness to falsely claim illness and obtain a doctor’s excuse to deceive the court, which he deemed unethical.
Moreover, he alleged that the Attorney General encouraged the witness to provide false evidence against the first accused person.
Mr. Amaliba pointed out that in the United States, public figures like Donald Trump have faced disbarment for making false statements. He argued that similar accountability measures should be enforced in Ghana.
“In some jurisdictions, this Attorney General would have been a goner. You know, in the U.S currently, Trump’s lawyer has been disbarred because he inadvertently said something that was not true, but you cannot have the same in Akufo-Addo’s Ghana,” he noted.
