Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President of IMANI-Africa, has raised concerns over what he perceives as attempts to excuse the silence of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) regarding the allegation of coercion of a witness by leader of the Bar and Attorney-General, Godfred Dame. The accusation was levelled by the third accused in the ongoing trial of Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson; businessman Richard Jakpa.

Describing the silence of the GBA as discomforting, Franklin Cudjoe, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, said the allegation, corroborated by a leaked audio recording of a phone conversation between Dame and Jakpa, amounts to treachery.

"I have seen some comments under my post about the Ghana Bar Association's eerily discomforting silence over the AG's conduct in the ambulance case. Essentially, they say that it is difficult for the GBA to reprimand or even advise one of its own members, a senior one like the AG—of course, alluding to the scenario of NAGRAT's inability to disown or reprimand a delinquent school headmaster—never mind if he had raped or pillaged funds.

"What some of these commentators forget is that the GBA is a civil society organization made up of civilized members who can tell right from grave wrong—in this instance, a very treacherous, invasive, maniacally, and Machiavellian way of extracting evidence and using the same for the sole purpose of denying the liberty of an individual by its lead advocate and minister of justice, apparently," he wrote.

He questioned the possibility of how often such acts have been deployed by the state in securing judgments, likening the defense of the AG’s action to that of defending priests who sodomize young boys.

"God knows how many such prosecutions have benefitted from such brain and hand-twisting. Sorry guys, making an excuse for the GBA is like saying, 'I am a Catholic, so I will defend Catholic priests who sodomize young boys!' Really? I am Catholic," he stated.

About the allegations against Godfred Dame

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), true to its promise, provided evidence of the supposed misdeeds of Dame, in the ongoing trial of the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson and Jakpa.

The NDC accused Godfred Dame of unethical and unprofessional conduct when the third accused person in the ambulance purchase trial, businessman Richard Jakpa, alleged in court that the AG had meetings with him on how to implicate the first accused, Ato Forson.

The third accused claimed that the Attorney General wanted his cooperation to jail Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson—a claim Dame flatly denied.

At a press conference in Accra, on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, the NDC played a 16-minute audio recording of a phone call conversation between Godfred Dame and Richard Jakpa, on the day the third accused was supposed to testify in court.

The said audio is currently the subject matter of cross examination. The state will continue quizzing Jakpa over the tape and other related matters today.



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