Misconduct wasn’t basis for release of Jakpa from GAF – CDS

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has denied allegations that former soldier Richard Jakpa was discharged from service due to misconduct.

The issue came to the fore when the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Lt Gen Thomas Oppong-Peprah, testified in court on Monday, following a subpoena.

Before this, the Military Secretary of the GAF, Air Commodore Nana Adu Gyamfi, had supported the assertion that Jakpa was not honourably discharged from the GAF.

During Jakpa’s cross-examination, Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame presented documents suggesting that Jakpa was released from the military due to unsatisfactory service and failure to pass promotional exams.

In response to these allegations, Jakpa’s lawyers subpoenaed the military secretary to testify. Thaddeus Sory, who leads Jakpa’s legal team, proposed during the questioning that Jakpa’s discharge was primarily based on regulations related to inefficiency.

While the military secretary confirmed this, he clarified that the discharge also resulted from specific misconduct identified after disciplinary proceedings.

However, during the CDS’ cross-examination in court on Monday, his lawyer questioned the military top boss about whether misconduct was a factor in the discharge, to which he responded negatively.

Furthermore, Lt Gen. Oppong-Peprah denied ever seeing any court order for the release of Jakpa’s dismissal letter to the AG’s office.

He also firmly stated that he has never received any letter requesting the release of Jakpa’s dismissal letter.

“My lady as the CDS, I have never received any request to release any document to anybody and so I cannot answer to that,” the CDS stated.

Source: citinewsroom