Private legal practitioner Samson Lardy Anyenini has called on the Attorney General to explain his refusal to accept a plea bargain deal from one of the accused persons in the ongoing ambulance purchase trial.

Speaking on PM Express on JoyNews, he said that the prosecution began because the state is chasing the money the accused person caused the state to the tune of €2.4 million.

He said Ghanaians are more interested in recovering the money for the country, especially now considering the economic difficulty.

Thus, Mr Anyenini questioned why the Attorney General would refuse a plea deal offer of about €2 million.

“Yes, a criminal prosecution may lead to jail terms, if it is successful, and bring deterrence. But there is a good reason we have the plea process,” he told the host Evans Mensah.

“In a matter, in which we are chasing almost €2.4 million, and one person out of the three accused or two accused at a point, makes a plea offer of €2 million, and we are told that was even enhanced later on, what would be the basis to reject that plea offer?”

Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame has released the full details of plea bargain letters sent to his office by the third accused, Richard Jakpa, in the ongoing ambulance purchase case.

This action comes after Jakpa claimed in open court that Godfred Dame approached him multiple times, seeking his assistance to implicate the first accused.

• Read More: AG releases plea bargain letters amid Ambulance Case drama

Dismissing Jakpa's claims, the Attorney General insisted that Jakpa had actually sent several letters requesting a plea bargain to drop all charges against the accused.

Background 

The Attorney-General’s office on December 23, 2021, filed criminal charges against former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson and two others, for causing financial loss to the state concerning the procurement of 200 ambulances by Prof. John Evans Atta Mills and John Mahama-led government. 

The suit also named Sylvester Anemana, Chief Director at the Ministry of Health at the time of the contract, and a businessman, Richard Jakpa, as persons of interest.

Documents filed by the A-G’s office traced the events culminating in the alleged crimes to an announcement made in the 2009 State of the Nation Address regarding plans to procure ambulances for the country.

The A-G said following this address, the Ministry of Health (MOH) initiated action to acquire more ambulances.

The 3rd accused person, Richard Jakpa is said to have used his company, Jakpa at Business, to present a proposal and Term Loan to the Ministry of Health which he claimed to have arranged from Stanbic Bank to finance the supply of the 200 ambulances to the government.

• Read More: Ambulance case: There’s no financial loss to the state – 3rd accused

Cabinet, according to the A-G, gave an Executive Approval for the project. However, it emerged later that the ambulances had some defects that rendered them unfit for purpose.

It is the case of the prosecution that 10 of the ambulances delivered under the deal on December 16, 2014, were fundamentally defective with some not even having any medical equipment in them, causing a financial loss to the state.

At the time, Dr Forson insisted that he did not authorize payment for the procurement of the said ambulances.

“It should be noted that I, Cassiel Ato Forson did not authorise payment for the said £2,370,000. But my only job in the entire transaction was to request the issuance of Letters of Credit on the authority of the Minister responsible for Finance at the time,” he said.

Meanwhile, the accused persons are standing trial for allegedly causing financial loss to the state to the tune of over €2.37 million following the purchase of ambulances.

Dr Forson is also facing an additional charge of “intentionally misapplying public property contrary to section 1 (2) of the Public Property Protection Act, 1977 (SMCD 140)”.

However, in March 2024, the Office of the Attorney General (AG) and the Ministry of Justice dropped the charges against former Chief Director of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Sylvester Anemana.

• Read More: Ambulance saga: AG drops charges against former Chief Director of MoH

The case reached a new high in May 2024 after allegations by Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the ambulance purchase trial, that the Attorney General previously approached him to help build a case against the Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.

Mr Jakpa said in open court that the Attorney-General had on several occasions engaged him at odd hours to incriminate the first accused and Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.

• Read More: Ambulance case: Accused alleges AG tried to get him to incriminate Ato Forson

“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 [Ato Forson] when I’m here to defend myself,” Mr Jakpa added during court proceedings on Thursday, May 23, 2024.

A statement signed by Deputy Attorney-General, Alfred Tuah Yeboah, however, dismissed the claims.

But at a press conference, on Tuesday, May 28, the NDC played a tape purportedly containing the voices of the two individuals.

The party said the 16-minute long audio is the first of many such pieces of evidence they would be releasing subsequently.

• Read More: NDC releases tape allegedly showing A-G influencing witness to incriminate Ato Forson

However, the NPP dismissed the tape as doctored. According to the NPP, the NDC fabricated the alleged conversation between Mr Jakpa and Mr Dame.

“The alleged conversation is supposed to last for 26 minutes, but the NDC schemed to play only 16 minutes. The question is where is the rest of the tape.”

• Read More: NDC’s ‘Jakpa vs AG’ tape has been doctored – NPP alleges

Addressing the press on Tuesday, May 28, in response to the NDC's revelations, NPP legal practitioner, Frank Davies stated that the tape contained repetitions, overlaps, and voice distortions.

He claimed that the NDC had spent the past days manipulating the alleged tape they played.

Meanwhile, Security Analyst Dr Adam Bonaa has refuted claims by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the tape recording between Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame and the third accused in the ambulance case, Richard Jakpa, is doctored.

• Read More: Ambulance Case: The tape released by NDC was not doctored – Adam Bonaa

According to him, the sequencing, tone, and other indicators of the recording shared by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) show no signs of tampering.