Alleged Attorney – General’s Voice- You pay only after the goods have been delivered because that’s also the contract, not so.
Richard Jakpa- Yes, but then the financial instrument for the project is an irrevocable letter of credit.
So that credit letter has already been sent.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – No problem. But in my view, that letter of credit area, the contract requires that you pay by letters of credit, not so.
Richard Jakpa- Yes, in addition, you should establish it upon the signing of the contract. So already you have paid…
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Upon the signing of the contract for every 50 ambulances.
Richard Jakpa – Yes. No, upon the signing of the contract for every 50 ambulances since there was no advance payment.
That LC was a security that you have to establish ahead.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – No problem. The signing of the contract for every 50 ambulances is it the contract for the contract for every 50 ambulances.
Richard Jakpa- The signing of the contract is for 200 ambulances in tranches of 50, 50, 50.
Alleged Attorney – General’s Voice – Good. Hold on. So that contract for 50 ambulances is different from this one?
Richard Jakpa – No. It is… The contract is one contract for 200 ambulances, which has been broken down within the contract for every few… You establish LC for every 50 tranches. So you have four LCs for the 200 ambulances…..
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – No, For that part, I disagree with you. Because if you look at the terms of the contract, it’s quite clear. And it should not be difficult for you to accept because really, it doesn’t put you in any problem. That’s not put you into any difficulty. You know, the Minister of Finance. So for him, if he accepts that, then it doesn’t put you in any difficulty.
Richard Jakpa – No, see, the problem I have in accepting that for you is that there are letters that confirm that, both from government, and from a principal, that is for every 50 ambulances. That confirms that. And I’ll be tending those letters in. So I cannot go against what the letters say and the contracts say, because I was the agent at that time. Jakpa and business was the agent.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Hold on. LC is on site. Payment shall be in your… First of all, you said they have no advance payment.
Richard Jakpa – Yes..
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – What does advance payment mean?
Richard Jakpa – What it means is that the supplier was not going to be paid any cash, any money for him to use in procuring all the accessories and everything to manufacture. So the manufacturer will use his own money to buy the ambulance vans, all the accessories from across the globe, with the security from government being the LC and the LC has conditions precedence.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Hold on, hold on. Okay. Yes.
Advance payment does not mean paying in advance of the delivery of the goods.
Richard Jakpa- They said no advance payment.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Yes. Advance payment means that we are paying before the goods are delivered to you.
Richard Jakpa- No. They said no. No advance payment. Not that there is advance payment. No advance. Meaning you will not pay.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Yes. Until the goods are delivered to you. Not so.
Richard Jakpa – Yes.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Yes. Until the goods are delivered, you don’t pay at all, not so.
Richard Jakpa – Yes
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Uh-huh. And then also, it goes ahead to say that payments shall be in a free manner. LC is on site of goods. In fact, what is the LC on site of goods? What does it mean?
Richard Jakpa-What LC on site of goods means is that when you ship the documents, when you ship the goods,
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – When you ship the documents?
Richard Jakpa- No, when you ship the… Sorry, sorry. When you ship the goods from your port of origin, the bill of lading of the goods is what you use as…
AllegedAttorney-General – So LC on site of goods means when the goods have been shipped.
Richard Jakpa- They have been shipped.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Not when the goods have been delivered in Ghana.
Richard Jakpa- No, When the goods have been shipped. Because you have gone to do precipitously.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – You lets go by that
Richard Jakpa – So, what I’m trying to explain is that you use the bill of lading. You use the bill of lading. You use the bill of lading.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – You establish it. You establish it. You establish the LC after the precipitate inspection. No one will ever dispute about that.
Richard Jakpa- No, the LC is established as soon as you sign the contract. You establish the LC and that becomes the security comfort for the supplier to invest his money.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – No, It says, LC on site of goods has been signed upon the signing of the contract.
Richard Jakpa- Yes.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – For every 50 ambulances. Yes. Yes. Which contract is this? It’s not a contract for every 50 ambulances. So under this main contract. This is like the main contract.
Richard Jakpa- The main contract and LC for every 50 of the 200 you have said. So , you can, so the contract is not saying that government should establish one LC which is 15.8 million euros for the whole 200 at the goal. No. Government has a bulk contract of 15.8 million euros. Now, this contract will become branch will become entranches of 50 ambulances. So, you establish your LC for the 50.
When that 50 have been delivered. And everything sorted out and handed over, another LC is established for another subsequent 50 until you finish all the 200. That is what the contract says. So, the LC that was established….
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Even then, even then, hold on. I don’t agree with your explanation. But even then, this your explanation that’s not what happened in this case.
Richard Jakpa – Okay. What happened?
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Yes. That’s not what happened in this case. Yes. Because the LC was established even before this principle in session
Richard Jakpa – Yes. Yes.
Alleged Attorney-General – There was no principle in this session. So, it means there was no basis for the LC to be established in the first place.
Richard Jakpa- No, no, no.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – That is really not your problem anyway.
Richard Jakpa- Right. That place, that place, in that particular place, you are getting it wrong. If you may have patience for me to explain to you.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – No, no, no.
Richard Jakpa- You are getting it wrong there because when you establish LC, the LC had conditions precedent for it to be honored. Okay. And the condition precedent states that. Okay. You can only cash the LC when you present shipping documents, which is bill of lading, to the Ghana International Bank of the buyer, before the LC can be on it.
So, even though the LC was established upon the signing of the contract, was supposed to be established upon the signing of the contract, it cannot be cashed or honored. It becomes a form of security for the supplier to invest his own money. Okay. And when he ships the ambulances, he can then send a bill of lading to your bank, your bankers, to then honor the LC. Because that is a condition precedent.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – But in any case, in this case, even the LC was actually cashed. Everything.The payment was actually made before the goods were shipped.
Richard Jakpa- No.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Before the goods got to Ghana.
Richard Jakpa- No, no, no, no, no, no.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Oh yeah.
Richard Jakpa- He couldn’t have, he couldn’t have. The supplier, there is no way under the sun he could have cashed the LC before the shipping document, which were condition precedent, was presented to Ghana International Bank of the buyer. Even when he presented the documents to Ghana International Bank, Ghana International Bank refused to honor the LC, raising issues of discrepancy. which came back to Bank of Ghana, which later went to the Ministry of Health and then Animana authorized Bank of Ghana through Ministry of Finance to pay because they had sorted out the discrepancies with Big Sea.
That time, around this time, all the ambulances had already arrived in Ghana. You are not privy to this one, I’m telling you.
AllegedAttorney-General – In my view, if you, if you, if we agree to this theory, it’s so simple, the theory of the case.
Richard Jakpa- Not agree to the way you want to go, the way you want to go about it.
AllegedAttorney-General But you let’s agree, you let’s describe it that way, you let’s describe it that way, you don’t want to go about it.
Richard Jakpa- Okay, fine.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – If you agree to it this way, it makes it simple.
Richard Jakpa- Yes, it will make it, if I…
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – It doesn’t also involve, it doesn’t involve any difficulty for you.
Richard Jakpa- Yes, I agree, I understand your point.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Because when you say there is no advancement. Yes. No advancement ordinary meaning in Ghana means that you, you, you, you don’t pay until you get your goods. Now, the contract here, even the play terms, unless maybe you guys did not draft a contract or it says, LCs on site of goods, it shall be established upon the signing of the contract for every future goods.
Richard Jakpa- No, the contract was drafted by government. It was drafted by government.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes and whoever did, did not….
Richard Jakpa-And it was, and LG, LG department perused the contract and approved the contract for government.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice -It is not a problem. Every contract has to be approved for later when they implement it.
Richard Jakpa- You see, what the difficulty I have, I have with your, your, your position is that, you see, I, frankly speaking, fine as you are saying, if I agree to your, your, your position, how you want to go about it and how you want me to go about my answering questions and things. If I go by that way, frankly speaking, I’ll be dishonest because I know that is not how it’s supposed to be.
And I’ll be dishonest. And I’ll be dishonest in such a way that I’ll be assisting for someone I know is completely innocent about this. For example, I have to force him to be jailed because I knew something was wrong, was not the way and I decided to, to, to keep quiet and to answer the question in a way that will make your case better for you to jail him. I’ll be battling with my conscience.
That is the problem I’m having. Anytime you bring up this issue with my, with Yonukulendi, when Yonukulendi’s place. Anytime you bring this issue. That is my problem I’m having. Because me, for example, I am in this case because I’m innocent and I’m going through ordeal. So I’m looking at another person also going to go through ordeal and through me because I know the truth and I decide not to say it because I want to help the AG make his case. And I ask myself, what is my interest in it?
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – I’m not asking you to even help me. I’m just going by it… Anyway, so, so, so that’s fine. So this one was even just by the way.
Richard Jakpa- I hope you get my difficulty.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – It’s on the phone and I don’t know who is recording.
Richard Jakpa- Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, don’t worry about that one. My issue, my issue, I’m just, oh no, you and I we’ve be meeting, we’ve be meeting me at my cousin’s place and you’ve been bringing this issue up several, several times and I keep telling you that I can’t do that because. It doesn’t sit well with me.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – The terms of contract are simple. Is it on the side of the service or on the side of the contract for every 50 ambulances.
Richard Jakpa- Yeah. It’s for every. So when you see that here, for every 50 ambulance means that it’s not only 50.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Yeah. Okay.
Richard Jakpa- For every. It means that it is not only 50.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – All right.
Richard Jakpa- Means that there are a lot of 50s that will be following. So that is what I was trying to explain to you. So frankly speaking, the LC that was established was, was as a security for the supplier to invest his own money. Since there’s no advance agreement.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Yes. It is the same thing that was used to pay because LC was the means of payment. That is the agreement.
Richard Jakpa- Yes. When the conditions precedents are met. Okay.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Which is what? They have some documents.
Richard Jakpa- That yes. Yes. The bill of ladings, the ambulance have been shipped and the bill of ladings are presented. That is when you can cash the LC. So until you ship the ambulance, you can’t cash the ambulance. You can’t cash the LC.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – And it was done in this case, not so ?
Richard Jakpa- Yes. In this case. Yes. When he shipped the ambulances, he then presented the documents to Ghana International Bank. And then Ghana International Bank refused to honor the LC and raise issues of discrepancies which was later cleared by Animana at the Ministry of Health for payment to proceed.
And that is how he was paid. So in frankly speaking. If there’s somebody who authorized this payment to go on. Even though in Ghana International Bank raised issues of discrepancies. It’s Animana. He was authorizing those payments.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – But you were in court when you heard the Bank of Ghana Officials and the Ministry of Officials. And even the defect, see that no payment can go on except with the Ministry of Finance authorization. There’s no way the Ministry of Health will authorize. In fact, the Ministry of Health actually in their letter, they said no, they shouldn’t go ahead and produce ambulances.
Richard Jakpa- No, as for that letter that Shirley Ayitey wrote that they should suspend production and those things was contrary to the terms of the contract. And that letter went to your office, the AG’s office and the AG debunked that letter and wrote his legal opinion and told her that they should proceed. So AG that letter had been destroyed by your department, by your ministry. So that letter is of no value.
It is the AG’s legal opinion that overrode that letter and Minister of Finance had to implement the AG’s opinion.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – And by the AG’s bigger opinion, the terms of the contract were honoured and only the terms of the contract were breached.
Richard Jakpa- Because they were already breached and the AG wanted them to honour it so that Shirley Ayitey’s letter that you want to rely on is of no value…
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Did they honor it? Did they honour the terms of the contract?
Richard Jakpa- The ministry?
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Yes
Richard Jakpa – Yes, they still didn’t honour some part of the contract they honoured the LC part but when it came to the pre-shipment inspection they refused to honour that particular part.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Okay
Richard Jakpa – So they were right to go and inspect and then they turned around and blamed people for you not going to inspect to rectify any manufacturing defect that the pre-shipment inspection was meant to kill.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice -mmmm
Richard Jakpa- Aha, so Shirley Ayitey, through her negligence and refusal to implement the pre-shipment inspection, created this problem. that’s what I was trying to tell you.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – The reason why I called as I said that’s my timetable for the rest of the….
Richard Jakpa- Oh then it means that you are not going to be around
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – And then even next week, the whole of next week, I will not be around there is a way of if you are not even finishing next week, I would appreciate it…
Richard Jakpa- I will not finish next week, I don’t think I will be able to finish because the documents are many so you will surely go and come and meet me but that will also depend upon the judge’s behavior.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – You can bring one medical excuse next week
Richard Jakpa- Okay fine, if you bring a medical excuse next week
AllegedAttorney-General – I said you, how can I bring a medical excuse?
Richard Jakpa – Ahn, you are saying that I should bring a medical excuse next week
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – you can, you can if you want to
Richard Jakpa – But brother, you want this woman to issue a bench warrant for me again right, hahahaha, because you can see that I was really in admission struggling for my life and she issued a bench warrant for me to be arrested and my name was put everywhere, now if I go and do another one as you are saying, my brother, this woman will issue another bench warrant for me and destroy the little of my reputation left she will destroy it for me.
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – Alright
Richard Jakpa- But you will surely go and come and meet me still talking so don’t worry
Alleged Attorney- General’s Voice – No Problem
Richard Jakpa- Okay, thank you my brother thank you my brother
