The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has provided a detailed breakdown of the structured repayment arrangement that led to the discontinuation of the criminal case against former Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and seven others. Speaking at a sectoral update on Monday, July 28, Dr. Ayine explained that the decision to enter a nolle prosequi was informed by progress in asset recovery efforts and the legal complexities surrounding the case.
According to Dr. Ayine, the accused proposed a structured settlement of GH¢2 billion as full and final settlement, involving a combination of asset transfers and cooperation in recovering funds from third parties. “By a letter dated May 7, 2025, the accused persons proposed to pay GH¢2 billion through a structured arrangement,” Dr. Ayine stated. “They agreed to transfer GH¢800 million worth of assets directly to UniBank, currently under receivership, and to assist in recovering an additional GH¢1.2 billion from third-party beneficiaries who received payments under their instructions.”
Dr. Ayine disclosed that GH¢844 million in landed properties had already been handed over to UniBank, and GH¢500 million of the GH¢1.2 billion expected from third-party recoveries had already been retrieved. The Attorney-General’s Office considered several key factors in assessing the settlement proposal, including fictitious entries, pending civil claims, prolonged litigation, and the risk of diminishing returns.
“It is important to make clear that when someone is charged with causing financial loss to the state, it does not imply that they took the resources that have been lost,” Dr. Ayine emphasized. The government had set a 60% recovery threshold as a condition for reassessing the need for prosecution, and the discontinued case was among several initiated during Ghana’s financial sector clean-up.
