Richard Jakpa
Richard Jakpa, the businessman at the centre of the €2.37 million ‘defective’ ambulances trial, yesterday admitted that the ambulances in the state in which they were delivered in December 2014, were not fit for purpose because there was a clause in the contract between government and Big Sea General LLC, the supplier, which barred government from using the ambulances until they were officially handed over.
According to him, per the contract terms, Big Sea after shipping the vehicles to Ghana was expected to send its staff to install the medical equipment into them, train Ghanaian paramedics before officially handing over the ambulances to government.
He said government was only supposed to clear the vehicles from the port, park them at a safe place until the first 50 out of the total 200 were delivered and the equipment installed in them before government could use them as ambulances.
He said if government had gone ahead to assume usage of the ambulances, that would have invalidated the warranty on the vehicles as it would have breached the terms of the contract between government and Big Sea.
He added that the NDC government at the time had taken steps to remedy the hiccups that were created as a result of the actions of former Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper and former Minister of Health, the late Sherry Ayittey, which stalled the project for two years before leaving office on January 7, 2017.
Mr. Jakpa was answering questions posed by Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, that although the first ten vehicles arrived in December 2014 and the NDC government of which Dr. Ato Forson was a part, could not convert the vehicles into ambulances because they were not suitable for conversion into ambulances.
Parliamentary/Cabinet Approvals
Richard Jakpa yesterday distanced himself from any blames as to why the NDC government did not follow the agreement approved by Cabinet and Parliament for the purchase of 200 ambulances for the Ministry of Health, which has led to him and Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson standing trial for causing financial loss to the state.
The businessman while answering questions under cross-examination yesterday, once again laid the blame at the doorstep of former Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper and also roped in former Minister for Health, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin as to why Big Sea General LCC, the Dubai based company that supplied the ambulances was not approved to do so.
Mr. Dame during his questioning had asked the accused to go through both the Cabinet and Parliamentary approval and tell the court whether Big Sea had received approval in any of those two documents.
“This question falls directly under the bosom of Hon. Alban Bagbin. I am not in a position to answer this question because I was not the Minister for Health and I was not responsible for presenting documents,” Jakpa responded.
He also told the court that he was unable to answer whether or not the contract between government and Big Sea received Parliamentary approval “because I do not work at Parliament and I do not know how they communicate their approval. The best person to answer that is the Clerk of Parliament.”
The Attorney General further put it to the accused that the Ministry of Finance did not adhere to the dictates of the then Attorney General’s advice for the terms of the contract to be performed, by virtue of the letters by which Dr. Forson authorised establishing the Letters of Credit (LCs) which was the method of payment for the ambulances.
“I am incapable of answering this question because I was not the Minister of Finance, I didn’t have any fiduciary responsibility to the state in the execution of this contract, so I am not the right person. Hon Seth Terkper was the Minister of Finance and he is in the best position to answer why he didn’t comply with the Stanbic Bank loan approved by Ghanaians through their representatives in Parliament for the purchase of the ambulances,” the accused answered.
50% Profit
Mr. Dame also pointed out that Jakpa At Business and Big Sea General LLC received about 50 percent of total amount under the ambulance contract as profit.
While he did not dispute that his company received 28.7 percent of the contract sum as an agent of the supplier, he said he could not tell how much Big Sea made because “I am not Big Sea General LLC neither am I a staff of Big Sea… I would not know about that because I am not the CEO of Big Sea and neither am I a staff of the company.”
“I am putting it to you that between yourself and your principal Big Sea, you received about 50 percent of the total sum of €2.3 million paid under the ambulance contract as profit, and that is why you couldn’t deliver to the nation genuine ambulances,” the AG further pressed.
Mr. Jakpa said that was not true because the ambulance project went through various stages of approval, due diligence with government over years, adding that Big Sea even supplied vehicles that were more expensive than what was stated in the contract at the detriment of the supplier.
Mr. Jakpa was discharged yesterday following the conclusion of cross-examination by the Attorney General. The case was adjourned to July 11, 2024 for Jakpa to call his first witness.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak