Godfred Yeboah Dame, the former Attorney General, has accused the current Attorney General, Dr Dominic Ayine, of peddling untruths in his press conferences.
Dame has boldly claimed that Dr Dominic Ayine has not recovered a single Cedi in the Unibank matter.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Forum on Monday, 28th July, Dr Ayine justified his office’s discontinuing the prosecution of the case involving Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and seven others, citing the case of Beige Capital, for which he rejected a GH¢10 million settlement in favour of full prosecution.
Dr Ayine stated, “On the contrary, the records show that the charges (against Dr Duffuor and seven others) were contestable and there was a high likelihood that the defence could have raised sufficient doubt to procure an acquittal, and if that happened, I see from the Beige Capital case, I would not have been able to recover GHC1.00”.
“I can now disclose that Beige Capital offered me or my office, GH¢10 million in settlement. You can ask the lawyers of Beige Capital, and I refused. Today I can’t get 50 pesewas from Beige Capital, so the dynamics are complex”.
Dr Ayine added, “Those who are oversimplifying it and saying this is a goat stealing scenario must understand that it is more complex than just saying that the Attorney General says bring four goats and keep the rest….., I could have been faced with the situation where the thieves would have eaten four of the goats, thus leaving me with only one possibility to recover only two goats, in other words, assets depreciate, and may even disappear before a diligent prosecutor can lay hands on them he explained.”
“He [General Abacha] shipped a lot of the [stolen] assets overseas, mostly to Switzerland and other parts of Europe and the United States. As we speak, from 1998 till now, the recovery process is still ongoing. Even with the sophistication of the Swiss, UN, and Nigerian authorities, recovery is still ongoing, so it is more complicated than that.”
“If we focus on the recovery, it will be very illusory for anyone to think that the AG or the republic can recover 100% in every case”, he boldly stated.
However, Godfred Dame, in a Facebook post reacting to Dr. Ayine’s press conference, wrote, “Dr. Ayine ought not mislead the public into thinking that through some unprecedented genius, he has recovered assets or money for the State.
All the assets of the Duffuors, Unibank and related companies, as well as other persons being prosecuted with them, had already been identified by the Receivers of Unibank appointed by the Bank of Ghana.
The Receiver already had a full list and profile of assets owned by them. Dr. Ayine should indicate to the public when either himself or his team this year discovered any new assets owned by the Duffuors”.
He added, “The record will reflect the fact that, to date, Dr. Ayine has not recovered a single Cedi in the Unibank matter. What he proposes to do, and for which he has already entered nolle prosequi, is to, in future, use some of the assets already identified by the Receiver to defray what he has unilaterally determined to be owed by the accused persons. Instructively, this arrangement is not pursued under any law.
It is only pursuant to the exercise of Ayine’s power of nolle prosequi. Dr. Ayine, thus, cannot lay claim to recovering any more assets than what the Receiver already has. He also cannot claim to have recovered for the Republic any money from the accused persons this year”.
Dame further quizzed, “Questions arising include, was any agreement executed with the Republic before the entry of nolle prosequi, and if so, when? Where is that agreement? Has any fair and objective valuation of the properties been done, and if so, when? Where is the valuation report? In the event of default, what is the penalty and how enforceable is it?”
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