An Accra High Court presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe will today, Thursday, June 20, 2024, decide on the potential admission of 68 WhatsApp messages sent by Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the ongoing ambulance procurement trial, to Attorney-General Godfred Dame, along with the AG’s two responses.
During proceedings on Tuesday, June 18, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa emphasized the substantial number of messages sent by Mr Jakpa compared to the limited responses from the Attorney-General. The DPP sought to tender all of Mr Jakpa’s WhatsApp messages into evidence.
Mr Jakpa acknowledged that he had introduced himself to the Attorney-General before the trial and obtained Dame’s number from his cousin, Supreme Court Judge Justice Yonny Kulendi.
Under cross-examination, Mr Jakpa admitted that the messages he presented in court did not encompass the entire conversation but were selected based on relevance to his case.
The DPP’s attempt to submit the WhatsApp conversation faced objections from Mr Sory, counsel for Mr Jakpa, who argued that the defence required additional time to thoroughly review the messages.
The trial judge then sought input from Dr. Bamba, counsel for the first accused, regarding objections to the submission. Dr Bamba objected, citing the lack of colour printing in the document.
Following these objections, the court instructed the DPP to defer the submission of the messages until the defence had adequate time to examine them, scheduling the ruling for today’s session.
By: Ekow Annan/newsalertgh.com
