Coup plotters wanted to capture Akufo-Addo, Bawumia et al at one function – Prosecutor

Prosecution witness Colonel Isaac Amponsah has told an Accra High Court that members of Take Action Ghana (TAG) planned to capture the President, Vice President, Speaker of Parliament and the Chief Justice.

During cross-examination in the case of ACP Benjamin Agorzor and nine others, Col Amponsah said the plan was to capture the four personalities at a function where all of them were present.

The Director of Operational Intelligence of the Defence Intelligence Department of the Ghana Armed Forces, Colonel Amponsah, narrated “on the 5th July, a conversation between Dr. Mac Palm and the BNI informant who had infiltrated the TAG, Dr. Mac Palm gave details of all the plan including the blocking of 66 Artillery Regiment, the Jubilee House, and indicated that they will block all the exit and entry route so that Ofori-Atta and all the big guys cannot escape”.

Colonel Amponsah in answering questions from counsel for five of the accused, Victor Kojogah Adawudu, insisted the group also planned to bomb National Communications Authority (NCA) to shut down all radio stations. He further stated Dr. Mac Palm “also talked about capturing of the president and referred to a function that took place in the north”.

He stressed that at the said function, “the President was there, Vice President was there and the Speaker of Parliament was there and he indicated that he didn’t see the Chief Justice and they are looking for a function where all four are present so they can capture them”.

Kojogah Adawudu put it to the witness in his evidence-in-chief that the videos and audios brought to him were incomplete.

Col. Amponsah explained the informant was not familiar with the equipment, stressing that “if you watch the videos, because the equipment was not configured the dates on the video do not match”.

ACP Agordzo and Dr Mac Palm together with eight others alleged to have played various roles in an attempt to destabilise the country have pleaded not guilty to four charges.

The 10 accused persons, who were on bail earlier for treason felony, were re-arrested by the NIB and slapped with charges of conspiracy to commit high treason, high treason and abetment.

The charge of high treason is high than the earlier charge of treason and the court sitting was presided over by three High Court justices presided over by Justice Afia Serwaa Asare Botwe.

All the accused persons are said to belong to a group called Take Action Ghana (TAG).

In June 2018, security agencies picked up intelligence of the group’s alleged plan to overthrow the government and usurp executive powers.