A former Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, has questioned the Attorney General, Dr Ayine’s decision not to proceed with the prosecution of the former Minister of Finance, Dr Kwabena Duffour and seven others who have admitted to falsifying an amount of GH¢2.1 billion in the uniBank case.
In an interview on JoyNews on Monday, July 28, 2025, following the AG’s updates on the Government’s Accountability Series, Tuah-Yeboah explained that the state could have at least charged the individuals with falsifying accounts, as explicitly stated in the country’s laws.
He also questioned the grounds on which all charges against the accused individuals were dropped.
“There is also this issue about they having cooked it. If you look at the laws in Ghana, if someone falsifies an account, what do you do? You prosecute the person for falsification of account. In that case, on what basis, did the AG withdraw the charges against these accused persons? If nothing at all, you could have maintained a charge of falsification of accounts,” he said.
The former Deputy Attorney General expressed concerns over what he described as conflicting claims that warrant clarification.
“It’s very possible because as lawyers you ought to look at the options. Sometimes, look at the evidence, listen to your clients, and you may want to advise your clients to avoid imprisonment. If you look at the charge sheet and the facts in this particular case, we are talking about GH¢5.7 billion. Now we are being told that about GH¢2.1 billion was cooked but who gave them these figures, the receiver?” he asked.
“The question I ask myself is that on what basis has the receiver now changed his position that the GH¢5.7 billion that he gave wasn’t the right figure but rather GH¢3.3 billion. We need to ask these questions because the receiver went to the booth without officers and came up with the GH¢5.7 billion. So, on what basis are they now saying that it’s now GH¢3.3 billion. We need to get some answers from the receiver,” he added.
The AG has sought to justify his decision to withdraw the case, clarifying the amount involved in the criminal and civil cases against Dr Duffour and the other accused persons.
“The charges in the criminal case against the accused persons involved a total amount of GH¢1.2 billion, while the civil case involved a total exposure of GH¢5.7 billion. It is important to state for the avoidance of doubt that the total exposure in the criminal case is a part of the total civil case exposure. In other words, the GH¢1.2 billion is not on top of the GH¢5.7 billion.
“Now, the GH¢5.7 billion was made up of the following: GH¢2 billion being loans and advances which uniBank made to related and connected parties, and GH¢3.7 billion being payments made on behalf of or on the instructions of the accused persons,” he explained.
He indicated that out of the total amount, the accused persons have offered to pay GH¢2 billion in full.
He added that the settlement proposal includes the transfer of GH¢800 million worth of assets directly to uniBank, as well as the accused persons’ active cooperation in recovering an additional GH¢1.2 billion from third parties.
“The accused persons offered to pay GH¢2 billion in full and final settlement of the outstanding obligation,” the Attorney General stated.
“This includes GH¢800 million in assets and their cooperation to help the receiver retrieve another GH¢1.2 billion from direct beneficiaries,” he said.
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