Kofi Boaye's tape: CD stirs new controversy

The Admissibility or otherwise of a secret voice recording of the five persons who took part in the recorded conversation on the missing 77 parcels of cocaine in ACP Kofi Boakye's house on Thursday, 22 March,have forced the Accra Fast Track High Court to adjourn the case to March 28, 2007.

The court, presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, a Court of Appeal judge sitting with additional responsibility as a High Court judge, adjourned the case after the defense team had raised an objection to the tendering of the CD containing the secret voice recording.

While the defense maintained that the secret voice recording infringed the rights and privacy of the accused persons, the prosecution stated that the secret recording was to demonstrate to the court the voices of those who participated in the conversation which took place in ACP Boakye's house.

According to the defense team, the admissibility of the secret voice recording would also create unfair prejudice and danger, while interfering with the privacy of the accused persons.

But the prosecution responded that the issue was not about the relevance of the material on the CD but to show the court the true voices of those who took part in the controversial recording in ACP Boakye's house.

Detective Inspector Charles Abada, the seventh voice prosecution witness, who spoke on the secret voice recording during his evidence-in-chief, said he recorded the voices after a voice and speech expert in the United Kingdom had requested for a fresh voice recording of those who took part in the conversation in ACP Boakye's house.

He said based on the request by J.P French and Associates, the voice experts, “I recorded the voice of those mentioned in the conversation without their knowledge so that they would not disguise their voices and forwarded it to the UK.

The witness said the experts on receiving the fresh recorded voice, requested for an Akan linguistic experts since parts of the conversation was in Akan.

Therefore, he sought one from the University of Ghana, Legon and linked him up with the experts in the UK.

The subject of the recorded conversation is the result of the trial of Kwabena Amaning alias Tagor, who is facing four counts of conspiracy, engaging in prohibited business related to narcotic drugs, buying narcotic drugs and supplying narcotic drugs and Alhaji Issa Abbas, who faces two counts of conspiracy and supply of narcotic drugs.

They have pleaded not guilty to all the counts and gave been refused bail by the court.

According to Inspector Abada, he recorded the voices of Abbas and Tagor on November 1 and 2 2006, respectively when they were on remand at the Ankaful and Sekondi prisons.

Similarly, he said he recorded the voices of the other persons namely ACP Boakye, Kwabena Akyeampong and Alhaji Imoro.

He said Abbas had indicated during the conversation that he was once arrested by the Bureau of National Investigations when he went to withdraw $495,000 which had been transferred to his accounts at the SG-SSB Bank.

Inspector Abada also appraised the court with the modus operandi of people involved in the narcotic business and stated, for instance that the dealers always suspicious of one another used certain terminology and also used their drivers in transactions.

Source: Daily Graphic