Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dominic Nitiwul, has strongly defended his office’s decision to drop the criminal case against Dr Kwabena Duffuor and seven others, arguing that recovering a substantial portion of the misappropriated funds was a more prudent course of action than risking a total loss.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Forum on Monday, 28th July, Dr Ayine explained that retrieving 60 per cent of the funds was a practical solution given the high risk of an acquittal if the case had proceeded to trial.
“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.”
He cited the case of Beige Capital, in which the company had initially offered to repay GH¢10 million, but the state rejected the settlement in favour of full prosecution, an approach that ultimately yielded nothing.
“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.”
The Attorney-General responded to public concerns, suggesting that the recovery system is not a better way of ensuring justice, as it encourages people to steal, knowing they can simply pay back a part of the loot.
He responded specifically to a Facebook post that compared the situation to a thief stealing six goats and simply agreeing to give away four and keep the two.
To illustrate the complexity of the case, the Attorney General responded: if a thief steals six goats and no swift action is taken, the thief may consume four of them, leaving the rightful owner with only two.
Therefore, it is more prudent to act quickly and recover at least four before the majority are lost. This, he stressed, underscores the importance of timely recovery over prolonged pursuit that may ultimately yield less.
“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.”
Mr Ayine also drew parallels with the infamous General Sani Abacha scandal in Nigeria during the 1990s, where successive Nigerian governments adopted recovery-focused approaches to retrieve billions of dollars stashed abroad by the late military ruler.
“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.”
The Attorney General’s comments come amid criticism from anti-corruption campaigners and members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), who have accused him of shielding Dr Duffuour due to political affiliations and setting a dangerous precedent for impunity.
But Dr Ayine dismissed the claims, insisting that the decision was guided strictly by legal merit and economic rationale. “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.”
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