Businessman Richard Jakpa who is standing trial alongside minority leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has rejected claims that the ambulances that are a subject of the instant prosecution were not fit for purpose.
During cross-examination, the lawyer for Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson questioned him on what his view is on such claims.
Richard Jakpa answered that such a position is not true and pre-mature. According to him, the contract was not executed to the point where the state could even make a value judgment as to whether or not the ambulances were fit for purpose.
He noted that at the time this initial determination was made by the late former Health Minister Sherry Ayittey, the ambulances had not been handed over to the government yet.
According to him, the government breached the contract terms to establish the Letters of credit immediately upon signing of the contract in 2012.
He reveals that, it was not until 2014, following advice from the Attorney General on the back of threats by Big Sea to sue the government that the letters of credit were established.
The delay according to him led to an expiry of the delivery schedule which necessitated the drawing up of another delivery schedule. This new delivery schedule mandated that the government be given a seven-day notice before shipping the goods for pre-shipment inspection by the government.
The minister of health at the time is said to have written to Big Sea to express the government’s disinterest and waived the government’s right to the pre-shipment inspection. The suppliers however went ahead to deliver the goods.
Jakpa explained further, that per the terms of the contract, the ambulances were delivered under a warranty and the goods were expected to be cleared awaiting training of the government’s paramedics by Jakpa’s firm before hand over can be done.
According to Jakpa, some accessories for the ambulances to be cleared by the government of Ghana to facilitate the handover of the ambulances have since not been cleared and the ambulances have not been properly handed to the state.
Jakpa contends that the decision of the state led by former health minister Sherry Ayittey to carry out a post-delivery inspection exercise was thus premature and not borne out of the terms of the contract. It is his view that the determination that the ambulances were not fit for purpose is ‘factually incorrect’.
The third accused also testified to an interaction between himself and Godfred Dame on Justice Yonny Kulendi’s phone where Godfred Dame allegedly asked him not to testify to documents like the seal of the minister of finance on the Letters of Credit issued by Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
According to him, Godfred Dame feared such an account would not be helpful to the prosecution’s case.
Source: citinewsroom.com
