The Attorney General’s office is denying allegations made by one of the accused persons in the trial of Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson in the ongoing ambulance purchase trial.

Richard Jakpa, the third accused in court yesterday alleged that the Attorney-General approached him at odd hours to implicate the Minority Leader.

“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,” Mr Jakpa said in court.

“If he pushes me, I’ll open the Pandora’s box. I have evidence to all this,” he added.

However, the AG in a statement called on the public to disregard the allegations noting that it remains focused on a zealous prosecution of the case.

It noted that throughout the trial, the Office of the Attorney General has relied solely on the record of the impugned transaction, i.e. the purchase of ordinary vans purporting to be ambulances, to sustain its case against the accused persons.

“This record existed before January 2022 (when the case was commenced) and was duly filed in Court by the prosecution before the commencement of the trial. The Republic has never required or desired the cooperation of any of the accused persons in the matter, in which it has already succeeded in establishing a prima facie case against all the accused persons,” it said.

“Neither the Attorney-General nor any officer from the Office of the Attorney-General has approached any of the accused persons with the view to obtaining evidence from them,” it added.

On the contrary, “it is rather the third accused who, by various letters dated 27th April 2023, 16th May 2023, 30th May 2023 and 12th June 2023, has proposed to the Republic through the Attorney-General to engage in plea bargaining or plea negotiations. This plea bargaining proposal has, to date, not been accepted by the Attorney-General.”

It noted that although the law on plea bargaining passed by Parliament permits a prosecutor to negotiate with an accused person after a plea proposal has been made, the Attorney-General has not engaged the third accused person to give false testimony in the matter.

“The Attorney-General has also come under enormous pressure from all manner of persons for him to discontinue the prosecution of the 1st accused person, Cassiel Ato Forson, but has not yielded. The Attorney-General has video evidence of the first accused, person, Cassiel Ato Forson, coming to meet him and to plead with him to discontinue the prosecution. This, the Attorney-General has refused to do,” the A-G’s stated firmly.

In the earlier press release, the NDC Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah posited that this incident confirms the “legitimate and long-held suspicion of the devious modus operandi of Godfred Dame and the government he represents.”

“The NDC is deeply scandalised by this clear case of persecution against the Leader of the party’s Caucus in Parliament who has been at the forefront of our struggle against the misrule of the oppressive and despotic Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP regime,” the statement said.

The NDC’s statement criticized the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration, accusing it of lacking integrity and perverting the course of justice.

“It further shows the desperate lengths the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government will go to manipulate judicial processes to unjustly victimise political opponents for cheap political goal-scoring.”

Mr Nketia added that, “It also confirms the lack of integrity of the dishonourable Attorney-General and the extent to which he goes to pervert the course of justice.”

The party has announced its intention to hold a press conference, during which it plans to present evidence supporting its claims.