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.
According to him, the sequencing, tone, and other indicators of the recording shared by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) show no signs of tampering.
Speaking on PM Express on JoyNews, he said “Anyone who understands how bugging or recording is done knows this was a direct recording. When I say direct recording, there is very minimal noise, just like a normal telephone conversation. It was a P2P (peer-to-peer) recording, not where you call me, and I set up another recorder somewhere, put it on loudspeaker, and then use the third-party device to record.”
Dr Bonaa emphasised “So, it’s not doctored. If you listen to the sequencing, Jakpa Richard’s diction, (and) his tone, was constant. He sustained it. If you look at the pitch, he sustained that as well. And even with the AG, he spoke as if it was under his bed or somewhere, but also very sustained. Anyone who understands the way these things are done will tell you that this will not pass for a doctored tape.”
The Security Analyst noted that with these indicators, forensic examinations by esteemed bodies like the FBI or MI6 would dismiss the allegations of doctoring.
Dr Bonaa, however, said that it was unfortunate the Attorney General did not know something like this could happen.
“He should have seen that he was talking and something was going on. Unfortunately, he couldn’t detect it as the AG,” he added.
This comes after the NPP dismissed as doctored, the tape recording presented by the NDC seeking to corroborate allegations that the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame has been unethical in his prosecution of Jakpa and two others in the Ambulance procurement case.
The NDC says the audio recording is a conversation between the third accused person (Richard Jakpa) and the Attorney-General.
Richard Jakpa last week claimed that the Attorney-General had urged him to falsify his testimony against Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson to aid the case against him.
However, according to the NPP, the alleged conversation between Mr Jakpa and Mr Dame was fabricated by the NDC.
“The alleged conversation is supposed to last for 26 minutes, but the NDC scheme is to play only 16 minutes. The question is where is the rest of the tape.”
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.
However, Dr Bonaa disputed claims of distortions adding that the NPP’s concern that only 16 minutes of the 26-minute conversation was shared is not proof enough that the tape was tampered with.
He explained that the conversation could have been recorded halfway through the conversation and as such, depending on the time the record button was hit, the full conversation may not be captured.
“So, the moment I record wouldn’t mean that the time frame in which we spoke would not be captured. The fact that we spoke for an hour, but I recorded you for 15 minutes, once I share it, it’s going to look as if there’s some missing puzzle there.”
“But like I’m saying, you can only detect that by looking at the sequence, and also some of these indicators, the elements I’ve given you, it doesn’t look like it’s doctored, and you cannot even link it to a third-party device recording,” the Security Analyst added.
