Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, has firmly defended his decision to enter a nolle prosequi in the high-profile banking sector trial involving Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and seven others.
Addressing a recent wave of public and political criticism—especially a widely circulated “goat thief” analogy—the Attorney General described such comparisons as reductive and misleading, urging Ghanaians to consider the legal and evidentiary complexities underpinning his decision.
Speaking at a media briefing, Dr. Ayine lamented what he described as deliberate distortions in the public discourse, particularly from political opponents within the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who have accused him of cutting a deal to allow looters of public funds to walk free.
He dismissed this interpretation as an oversimplification of the facts, especially the suggestion that by setting a 60% asset recovery threshold, he effectively permitted the accused persons to keep 40% of the alleged stolen funds.
“One writer on Facebook compared my decision to a situation where someone has stolen six goats and is being told by the prosecutor to return four and keep two. That may seem like a joke, but it’s a serious expression of the community’s sense of justice. Still, the analogy is a gross oversimplification.”
Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine
Clarifying the legal basis of the charges, Dr. Ayine explained that Dr. Duffuor and his co-accused were not charged with theft or looting of public funds. Rather, the charges included causing financial loss to the state, fraudulent breach of trust, falsification of accounts, dishonestly receiving, and money laundering.
Importantly, the prosecution never alleged that the accused personally benefited from the banking transactions that led to these charges.
“When someone is charged with causing financial loss to the state, it doesn’t imply they took the money. It means that through recklessness or negligence, their conduct resulted in a loss.
‘That distinction is important. We should remember the Quality Grains case, where the Supreme Court made clear that although people were convicted of causing financial loss, they had not stolen anything.”
Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine
He further argued that even the charge of fraudulent breach of trust was legally contestable. “The idea that depositors’ funds were held in trust is flawed,” Dr. Ayine said, citing legal precedent that defines the banker-customer relationship as one of contract, not trusteeship.
“Banks do not hold money in trust for depositors. They are at liberty, under commercial agreements, to use deposited funds in prudent and lawful ways.
“The record shows the charges were contestable, and there was a high likelihood that the defence could raise sufficient doubt to win an acquittal. And if that happened—as we saw in the Beige Capital case—I would not have been able to recover even one cedi.”
Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine
He revealed for the first time that Beige Capital had offered to pay GHS 10 million during plea negotiations, which the state rejected. “Today, I can’t get 50 pesewas from Beige Capital. People must understand that when assets are not frozen early, they depreciate or vanish altogether,” he said.
In this regard, he emphasized that the previous administration failed to trace or freeze assets when they initiated the charges.
“By the time I assumed office and was approached by the lawyers for the accused persons, no asset tracing had been undertaken and no freezing orders had been obtained. In real terms, it’s like the thief had already eaten four of the goats. So how do you recover all six?”
Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine
He drew comparisons to the long-standing effort to recover assets looted by Nigeria’s former military ruler, General Sani Abacha, which has dragged on for more than two decades despite cooperation from Swiss and American authorities. “Asset recovery is a highly complex, painstaking process. It’s not as simple as telling someone to return all the goats when most are gone,” the AG remarked.
Dr. Ayine acknowledged public sentiment around jailing offenders, but stressed that recovering lost state resources must remain a central goal. “Of course, jailing is part of accountability. But it is illusory to think we can recover 100% in every case. Sometimes we’re lucky if the assets are intact, but often they’re not.”
Reforms in Prosecutorial Strategy
Highlighting reforms in his prosecutorial strategy, the Attorney General said asset tracing is now integral to all major financial crime investigations, barring a few exceptions.
Referring to the recent National Service Secretariat case reported by The Fourth Estate, he noted that by the time he assumed office, the suspects had already begun hiding assets. “Luxury cars, real estate, and bank accounts were no longer easy to trace. But we’re closing in on them and will make disclosures at the appropriate time,” Dr Ayine noted.
Turning to the specifics of the Duffuor case, Dr. Ayine reiterated that 100% recovery was neither possible nor legally guaranteed.
“We recovered GHS 824 million worth of assets, and established a structured pathway for retrieving an additional GHS 1.2 billion through the civil process. These include monies owed to Unibank by third parties, such as contractors, at the time of its collapse.”
Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine
He sharply criticised the decision by the previous administration to reject Unibank’s proposal to use its contractor receivables to stay afloat.
“Unibank made overtures to say, ‘Let the Minister of Finance pay the contractors, and they’ll pay us.’ But the then Finance Minister refused and, together with the Bank of Ghana, collapsed the bank.
“Our current Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, could have done the same to NIB. Instead, he used resources to revive it, saving jobs and preserving the institution. That is wisdom in governance.”
Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine
Dr. Ayine concluded his address by urging the public to rise above partisanship and understand the legal and strategic judgments guiding his office’s decisions.
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