I've no information linking accused person to coup – Prosecution witness

A prosecution witness in the ongoing alleged coup trial, Sergeant Henry Ghartey on Tuesday, December 7 told a High Court in Accra that he has no information that links an accused person, Lance Corporal Ali Solomon, to the alleged coup plot.

This was after the witness had identified the accused person in open court and narrated how he saw him while he (the accused person) was in the guard room at the Ghana Armed Forces Headquarters, Burma Camp.

Sergeant Ghartey upon ending his evidence in chief was met with what is probably the shortest cross-examination in history when the lawyer for Lance Corporal Ali Solomon, Anthony Lartey, put to him that he as a witness had no information linking the accused person to the alleged coup; to which the witness responded in the affirmative.

Victor Kodzogah Adawudu who is the lawyer for the 8th Accused Person, Johannes Zikpi also referred the witness to portions of the witness' statement which suggested that the witness laughed off in disbelief when he was told that Johannes Zikpi and others had been detained for the alleged coup plot.

This is notwithstanding that he had given the court a detailed account of how the accused person contacted him on three different occasions asking how a phone could be purchased.

The court will resume later today, Wednesday, December 8, 2021, to hear the 5th prosecution witness.

Sgt. Ghartey in his testimony before the High Court in Accra on Tuesday, December 7, 2021, identified two of the ten accused persons, Johannes Zikpi and Lance Corporal Ali Solomon, as the only two he knew.

Sgt. Ghartey told the court that he was posted to the Communications Unit at Burma Camp upon return from peace keeping where he first encountered Johannes Zikpi as they worked in the same office.

According to him, Johannes Zikpi reached out to him on three different occasions asking him how to procure a global open trunking architecture (GoTa) handset, and on all occasions, he told Johannes that the handset was not sold on the open market and that it was solely for service and security personnel.

On the directions of the lawyer for Johannes Zikpi, Victor Kodzoga Adawudu, however, the witness read out portions of his own statement which suggested that he laughed in disbelief when he was told that Johannes and others were engaged in acts to overthrow the Government of Ghana.

---citinewsroom