Immediate past Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has launched a scathing attack on his successor, Dr. Dominic Ayine, over the decision to discontinue the criminal trial of Unibank founder Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and seven others.
In a strongly worded statement, Mr. Dame accused Dr. Ayine of misleading the public by suggesting that asset recovery influenced his decision to enter a nolle prosequi in the case.
According to Mr. Dame, no new assets have been recovered under Dr. Ayine’s tenure. He insisted that all properties linked to the Duffuor family and their associates had already been identified by the Receivers during the Akufo-Addo administration. “The record will reflect the fact that, to date, Dr Ayine has not recovered a single cedi in the Unibank matter,” Dame asserted, dismissing Ayine’s legal justification as baseless and unsupported by any statutory framework.
The former A-G also accused Dr. Ayine of compromising accountability, arguing that his predecessor’s actions signal a retreat from the prosecution of financial crimes. Citing previous cases, Dame questioned why convicted figures like Ato Essien remain in prison while other accused individuals are being freed or offered settlement deals under Ayine’s new approach. “There is no justification for Ato Essien to be in jail,” he stated, implying selective justice.
The war of words escalated further with Mr. Dame challenging Dr. Ayine to provide evidence of a GHS10 million settlement offer allegedly made by Beige Bank lawyers — a claim Ayine said he rejected. Mr. Dame not only denied knowledge of such a proposal but also asked whether it was directed at Ayine in his private or official capacity. He described the claim as “unverifiable and troubling.”
Beyond the legal arguments, Dame accused Dr. Ayine of undermining the Office of the Attorney-General with what he described as misinformation, mischaracterisations of past prosecutions, and a disrespectful tone towards his predecessors, including Gloria Akuffo. He warned that the abandonment of key prosecutions risks forfeiting over GHS7 billion in potential recoveries, calling for a deeper probe into the decisions Ayine has taken since assuming office.
