Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, a former National Security Coordinator, has questioned how a confidential report prepared by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) on Richard Jakpa ended up in the hands of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame. The report was presented in court during the ambulance purchase case last week to attest to Jakpa’s character.
The Attorney General revealed that Jakpa, the third accused person, had failed his promotional exams and was unable to progress from Lieutenant to Captain and Major, leading to his dismissal from the military.
However, Gbevlo-Lartey, an ex-senior military officer, suggested that the document was not a dismissal letter but rather a “recommendation from Army HQ to GHQ (COS) with confidential security classification.” He emphasized that “not even the officer affected was to see this document.”
On his Facebook wall on Friday, June 28, Gbevlo-Lartey posted a picture of the one-page document and stated, “GHQ (COS) owes the Ghana Armed Forces an explanation on how the document became public.”
Gbevlo-Lartey, who retired as a Lieutenant Colonel and served as the Commander of the 64th Battalion of Infantry, a Commando Unit that provided VV-VIP protection for ex-President Jerry John Rawlings and some key appointees, expressed his concerns over the leak.
Currently, Gbevlo-Lartey is a private legal practitioner and serves as the Executive Chairman at the Human Security Research Centre of the University of Ghana, his alma mater, where he lectures. He also served as the African Union Chairperson’s Special Representative in Charge of Counter Terrorism based in Algiers, Algeria, following his replacement by Yaw Donkor of the erstwhile Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) by President John Dramani Mahama.
It has been reported that Richard Jakpa was dismissed from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) in 2007 for “unsatisfactory conduct.” This was entered into evidence as part of the ambulance trial currently ongoing at the Accra High Court. Jakpa has been accused of causing a financial loss of €2.37 million to the state in an ambulance deal with the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson. The Deputy Attorney-General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, who began his cross-examination of Jakpa on Thursday, June 27, 2024, entered into evidence a letter supposedly written to dismiss Jakpa from the GAF in 2007.
The letter included allegations of misconduct and breach of military protocols, leading to his dismissal. Jakpa’s lawyers, led by Thaddius Sory, objected to the tendering of the letter and raised an issue of relevance, but the presiding judge, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, admitted the document into evidence. She stated that the witness had already acknowledged the document being tendered and had said he could speak to it. She added that the cover letters were official documents and would be admitted to prove credibility or otherwise.
The letter, written and signed on behalf of the Chief of the Army Staff by the late Brigadier General M.K.G. Ahiaglo, the then Commander of the Southern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces, indicated that Richard Jakpa had been released from service for “unsatisfactory conduct.”
It read, “The above-named officer was commissioned into the Armour Corps as a Regular Officer on 21 August 1998. All things being equal, the officer should have made the rank of Captain on 21 August 2002 and a Major on 21 August 2007. He has consistently failed his PROMEX and now lags behind his mates in rank. Also, his service with the Colours has been largely unsatisfactory, marked by consistent fraudulent conduct, abrasiveness, and general indiscipline.
In addition, Lt. R. Jakpa (GH/2899) has incessantly been indebted to various people/institutions during the period. An example was his long indebtedness to Recce Regt PRI to the tune of $300.00, which he was unable to pay until authority was sought for the amount to be deducted from his salary. Throughout his service life, Lt. R. Jakpa (GH/2899) has proved consistently that he belongs to a world incompatible with the decent and gentlemanly composure that the Presidential Commission confers on officers of the Ghana Armed Forces.
He is a bad example by all standards, and his continued retention in the Service is likely to cause more harm to the Service and to himself. Indeed, in May 2004, a special report submitted on him by his Commanding Officer suggested that the officer had reached his ceiling. Three years on, his new Commanding Officer describes his conduct as shameful and regrettable.
From the foregoing, the continued retention of Lt. R. Jakpa is not in the best interest of the Ghana Armed Forces and, indeed, himself. It has accordingly been decided that Lt. R. Jakpa be released from the Service forthwith.”
However, Jakpa said the writing was not legible. “What you see there is Hon Deputy Minister of Finance,” Mr. Tuah-Yeboah asked. Jakpa insisted he could not see, adding, “The first alphabet I see is D.”