Kofi Boakye Tape To Be Played In Court

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday, 21 March 2007
An Accra Fast Track High Court will today hear a full playback of the controversial tape recording of the conversation between Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kofi Boakye, former Director of Police Operation, and some suspected drug dealers.

The court was due to listen to the secret tape yesterday but had to postpone it because the compact disc player could not function.

The replay follows the admission into evidence of the recording by the court trying Kwabena Amaning popularly called Tagor and Alhaji Issah Abass for their involvement in the missing parcels of cocaine from the MV Benjamin vessel at the Tema Port in April, last year.

Tagor and Abass are among the 14 people recommended for prosecution by the Justice Georgina Wood Committee, set up by the Ministry of the Interior to investigate the missing 76 parcels of cocaine and another quantity seized at a house at East Legon in Accra.

Tagor is facing four counts of conspiracy, engaging in prohibited business related to narcotic drugs, buying of narcotic drugs and supply of narcotic drugs while Abass has been charged with three counts of conspiracy, engaging in prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs and supply of narcotic drugs.

At the last adjourned hearing, Ellis Owusu-Fordjuor and Mohammed Attah, counsel for Tagor and Abass respectively had objected to the tendering of the tape arguing that the prosecution witness, Chief Inspector Charles Adaba, who was the investigator, had failed to lay sufficient foundation for that.

They said what the prosecution sought to do had no relevance to the case.

But Ms Getrude Aikins, acting Director of Public Prosecution, said the tape recording was under proper custody and the prosecution had led evidence to lay enough foundation for it to be tendered.

Discussing the objection, the presiding Appeal Court Judge, Justice Jones Dotse, said it was in evidence that there was a meeting and the subject matter was the missing cocaine.

"These pieces of evidence show that the prosecution has been able to lay foundation as to the relevance of the tape recording."

The court said that even though the source of the recordings was still unknown, once the relevance and authenticity had been established, the court had the right to admit it in evidence.

The court also said that there was no evidence to show that the accused person held the meeting with Mr. Boakye under duress, adding that "a prosecution witness had testified that at the meeting they strayed into jokes and fun."