Bright Alan Debrah, one of the accused persons standing trial for plotting to overthrow government has described the footage presented by prosecution as evidence as “Kumkum Bhagya,’ an Indian soap opera with Twi voice over.
“I was in the video and I saw myself, Corporal (CPL) Ali Solomon and Lance Airforce Corporal (LAC) Sylvester Akankpewu, the first time I saw the video, it was like Kumkum Bhagya or an Indian movie with Twi voice over,” he explained.
He admitted been captured in videos but the voices had been cut and pieced together to suit the prosecution’s case.
Alan made these known during his evidence-in-chief at the High Court trying him and currently eight others due to the demise of Dr Frederick Mac-Palm.
The third accused person also agreed that he knew Warrant Officer Class Two Esther Saan.
Alan, who was led by his lawyer introduced himself as Bright Alan Yeboah, a transport manager and resident of American House.
Asked whether he knew why he was arraigned, he said he and one Nii Amu Darku had a political party named Africa Reform Movement (ARM) of which he was the organizer.
Alan said when he presented their documents to the Electoral Commission (EC), he was given a provisional license and was not able to complete the process because ARM did not have offices in two-thirds of the districts across the country, thus they were not able to contest in the 2016 general elections.
ARM’s leader, Darku who was based in Australia, told Alan he wanted to make changes which needed signatures of the citizenry across the country and that he would make the late Mac-Palm the national organiser and Alan would be his deputy.
Later, he received a call from Mac-Palm who invited him to his office and that was how he met Mac-Palm, Alan told the Court.
He said since the party’s office was at Teshie Nungua, that was where meetings were held bringing together himself, Mac-Palm and other officials.
The accused said Mac-Palm broke away from Nii Amu Darku after a misunderstanding, adding that he and Mac-Palm became friends and in 2018, they met, where Mac-Palm suggested he wanted to do something for his country by helping the needy, especially those in the rural areas as there was so much suffering in those areas.
The Court heard that in 2018, one Dr Sam, a friend of Mac-Palm came to Ghana from the United States of America and the three met at Alajo, Mac-Palm’s office, where they discussed how to help the country, stating that they settled on forming a Non-profit Organisation which gave birth to Take Action Ghana (TAG) and it was registered.
Under TAG, Alan said he became the General Secretary, that was when free medical outreach programmes were extended to residents of Ankwani in the Eastern Region, then to some villages in the Upper West, Western and Volta regions.
He said at some point, the group donated bags of cement to put up health posts in the Eastern and Upper West, stressing that on their way from Bole, they chanced on a robbery incident so they were advised by Staff Sergeant Sule Kwadwo Awarf, a Prosecution’s witness to get arms where he promised to provide them with pistols but Mac-Palm told him he already had one.
Alan said after an outreach at Kpando in the Volta Region, Sulley asked him to pick somebody at 37 who would help provide them with the pistols as he Sulley’s car had broken down but he declined since he had several meetings, later, he found out it was Donya Kafui, alias Ezor.
The duty of Ezor as he was told by Mac-Palm, was to repair guns in Mac-Palm’s X-ray container at his Citadel Hospital as and when Sulley brought them.
I remember one time Sulley called me that the five pistols that had been fixed should be test fired but I told him I did not have time, Alan said this in his evidence in Chief, adding that they were seized when Mac-Palm and Ezor went to the military shooting range to test them.
He said he was arrested at the 37 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) premises when he was to present car documents to one who bought his car.
In the car where he was kept after the arrest, he said there were Sulley and Colonel Amponsah, another Prosecution’s witness and said only a kitchen knife was found in his house during a search by the arresting team and was sent to the National Bureau of investigation, formerly BNI.
He said during interrogation, he was asked to sign to a document to implicate Madam Valerie Sawyer, former Deputy Chief of Staff, former late former President J.J Rawlings’ aid, Kofi Adams, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dr Benjamin Agordzo, among others, indicating that he would testify against them and would be sent to a country of his choice for his reward.
“They wanted me to say those persons wanted to mobilise soldiers to overthrow the Government but I responded that I had never met any of them,” he added.
The allegation that I and the others planned to overthrow the government is a lie, I have never met ACP Agordzo, Colonel Samuel Kojo Gameli and the others except Ezor and CPl Ali Solomon that I have known for a long time and I saw LAC Akankpewu once, the Court heard Alan.
Alan is standing trial with Donya Kafui, Johannes Zikpi Colonel Samuel Kojo Gameli, WOII Esther Saan,
CPL Seidu Abubakar, LAC Akankpewu, CPL Ali Solomon and ACP Dr Agordzo.
They are facing varied charges such as conspiracy, high treason and abetment.
All have since been granted bail.