By Love Wilhelmina Abanonave
Legal practitioner Austin Kwabena Brako-Powers has stated that the decision by the Attorney General, Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, to discontinue the case involving Dr Kwabena Duffuor and seven others suggests that it is acceptable to steal from the state.
“The Attorney General filing the nolle prosequi is simply suggesting that it is okay to steal from the state,” he said in an interview on The Key Points on August 2, 2025.
According to him, the Attorney General has filed more nolle prosequi decisions in six months than any of his predecessors.
Brako-Powers argued that the government must punish offenders to deter others.
“The trajectory of the Attorney General will normalise corruption. You don’t need a soothsayer to tell you this case is a serious offence. It shouldn’t be in the interest of government merely to recover the lost money but to punish the offenders to send strong signals to others,” he said.
He clarified that he was not against the recovery of funds but was concerned about how the Attorney General was manipulating figures and presenting misleading data to deceive the public.
However, political scientist Dr Amoako Baah, who was also present on The Key Points, suggested that recovering the stolen money was more important than pursuing prosecution.
The Attorney General’s decision to file a nolle prosequi has sparked backlash, despite the fact that he is not legally obligated to explain the move. Nevertheless, he addressed the issue in the Government Accountability Series, in an effort to promote transparency and accountability.
This follows the Attorney General’s decision to discontinue the case against Dr Kwabena Duffuor and seven others, citing significant progress in asset recovery, specifically, meeting a 60% recovery threshold of the alleged losses. The decision was made after prolonged negotiations and engagements between the accused persons and the Attorney General’s office.
The Attorney General’s office maintains that the decision is pragmatic and aligns with the national interest of recovering state resources.
