News Desk Report
Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has launched a scathing attack on the current Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, over his recent handling of high-profile financial crime cases—particularly the decision to drop charges against former Unibank executives, including Dr. Kwabena Duffuor.
In a strongly worded statement, Mr. Amidu questioned the government’s commitment to fighting corruption, describing the Attorney General’s justification for ending the prosecution as “a dangerous precedent that emboldens impunity.”
“You don’t return 60 percent of stolen money and walk free unless the government is a corruption government,” Amidu charged. “This is not justice. It is a betrayal of the public trust.”
The comment follows public disclosures by Dr. Ayine that the Unibank defendants had refunded over 60% of the allegedly misappropriated funds, forming the basis for entering a nolle prosequi to terminate the trial. However, critics including Amidu and policy analyst Bright Simons have challenged the veracity and prudence of that approach.
Bright Simons of IMANI Africa recently cited data from the IMF and World Bank suggesting that only about 10% of the surcharged amount has been recovered—raising serious questions about the Attorney General’s claims.
Amidu, Ghana’s first-ever Special Prosecutor who resigned in 2020 citing executive interference, argued that such actions by the current administration “legitimize corruption under the guise of pragmatic governance.”
He warned that allowing powerful financial actors to repay only a portion of public funds misused in exchange for immunity undermines the rule of law and public confidence in the justice system.
Background
Unibank, once one of Ghana’s leading indigenous banks, was placed under administration in 2018 as part of a sweeping banking sector cleanup. Subsequent investigations led to criminal charges against its founder Dr. Duffuor and other executives, including allegations of self-dealing and siphoning depositors’ funds.
With Dr. Ayine’s recent legal maneuvers effectively ending the prosecution, political and civil society actors are demanding transparency in the terms of settlement and the actual sums recovered.
