Gregory Afoko’s Lawyer Accuses Attorney General-designate of Lying before Appointments Committee

Lawyer for the alleged murder suspect, Gregory Afoko, has accused Attorney General-Designate, Godfred Yeboah Dame, of perjuring himself before Parliament on the question of the continuous incarceration of Mr. Afoko even though a court granted him bail two years ago.

According to Lawyer Nana Yaw Osei, Mr. Dame lied through his teeth when he claimed that Afoko, whose brother, Paul Afoko, is a millionaire, is still in prison custody because he could not meet his bail condition.

“Attorney General-designate Godfred Dame lied at his vetting on the fact that Gregory Afoko after being granted bail couldn’t meet the bail conditions. If Gregory Afoko didn’t meet the bail conditions as alleged by Godfred Dame at his vetting then on what basis did the Court give the Order to execute bail bond?”

He continues: “Gregory Afoko met all the bail conditions and he is still being denied bail. Godfred Dame lied before the Vetting Committee but it shouldn’t be that. Those who have not followed Gregory Afoko’s case will believe in Godfred Dame Lies.”

Mr. Afoko, who is standing trial over the alleged murder of the Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Adams Mahama, in May 2015 was in March 2019 granted bail by the High Court.

The bail was to the tune of GHc500, 000 but the state ignored the court’s ruling and continued to hold the suspect in custody for about three months.

Then the High Court in Accra subsequently indicated that it had quashed the bail granted Mr. Afoko by another High Court.

Amnesty International has demanded that the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice probe the issue.

Mr. Afoko’s family and his lawyers have accused the Akufo-Addo government of deliberately keeping him in jail as part of a dirty political vendetta. 

Before becoming Flagbearer of the NPP, in 2015, Akufo-Addo and his campaign team had accused Paul Afoko, Gregory’s elder brother, who was then the Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of not being in favor of Akufo-Addo’s flagbearership.

Akufo-Addo’s team members, including the then Northern Regional Chairman of the NPP, Daniel Bugri Naabu, had reportedly met in Tamale, the Northern regional capital, and resolved to hound out both Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong who was then General Secretary.

Amidst the scheming and internecine power war, Adams Mahama who was supportive of Akufo-Addo’s Flagbearership was baptized with a gallon of acid by unknown persons while on his way home from work.

Gregory Afoko was promptly arrested as a suspect, allegedly because Mahama Adams had said on his death bed that Gregory was the one who attacked him with acid.

He was subsequently put on trial.

After the State had completed its case and the court was about to give judgment, in 2017, Afoko was re-arrested by the State with the explanation that a second suspect, one Alangdi, had been arrested.

Even so, when he was given bail in 2019, the Akufo-Addo government refused to let him go.