The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine has provided details of what led to the discontinuance of the case of the Republic vrs Kwabena Duffuor and 7 others.
The Office of the Attorney-General, on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, announced that it has entered a nolle prosequi in the case effectively bringing the prosecution of the accused persons to an end.
Following the A-G’s announcement, some persons in the public expressed their displeasure in how the matter had transpired, insisting that the A-G’s approach was not the best.
However, during a press briefing at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, July 28, 2025, Dr. Ayine explained why his office decided to discontinue the case after prolonged negotiations with the lawyers of the accused persons.
He said his office received a proposal on May 7 from the accused persons to settle a revised outstanding obligation of GHC3.3 billion through a structured approach.
The A-G said in addition, the accused persons also offered to pay GHC2.2 billion in full and final settlement of the outstanding obligation through some arrangements.
These arrangements included; GHC800 million worth of assets to be transferred directly to UniBank which is the receiver to be made available to the Bank of Ghana.
The proposal also included active cooperation and participation by the accused persons to assist the receiver to recover an additional GHC1.2 billion from the direct beneficiaries.
“Out of the above arrangements, the accused persons have provided landed properties valued at GHC842 million to UniBank.
“Further, the accused persons will be responsible for any shortfall in the proceeds realized from the sale of the landed properties,” Dr. Ayine noted.
“A total of GHC0.5 billion has till today been recovered out of the GHC1.2 billion being pursued from the direct beneficiaries. Recovery of the remaining balance of GHCO.7 billion out of the GHC1.2 billion and the realization of the landed properties provided are expected to be completed over a timeline of 18 months,” he added.
According to the Attorney-General, let alone for him and his team he wished the accused persons would have made the settlement in cash, however, from negotiations with lawyers of the accused persons, immediate settlement in cash was not realistic.
“Although the preference would have been for me and my team for the accused person to settle the proposed amount in cash, immediate settlement of cash from my sense of what transpired at the negotiations, a realistic possibility,” he stated.
Some popular financial institutions were affected by the financial sector clean-up under the erstwhile Akufo-Addo government. These institutions included; UT Bank, Capital Bank, UniBank, Heritage Bank, Royal Bank, BEIGE and GN Bank.
The case centred around allegations of financial impropriety, breach of duty, and causing financial loss to the state.
Dr Duffuor, who owned the collapsed UniBank and subsidiaries, and the other accused persons were alleged to have played a role in the collapse of several financial institutions, including banks, savings and loans companies, and microfinance institutions, during the clean-up exercise.
Read also: Attorney-General drops financial case against Duffuor & 7 others following substantial fund recovery
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government then said that the actions of the accused persons led to significant financial losses and undermined the stability of the financial sector.
It argued that the accused persons failed to exercise due diligence and prudence in their roles, resulting in the collapse of several financial institutions.
The defendants, however, denied any wrongdoing and argued that their actions were in accordance with established policies and procedures.
