Former Deputy Attorney General Alfred Tuah-Yeboah has defended former Attorney General Godfred Dame’s response to Dr. Dominic Ayine’s decision to discontinue several high-profile cases, stating that Dame was within his rights to challenge the justification.
Tuah-Yeboah explained that while the Attorney General has the discretion to withdraw cases, publicly defending such decisions invites legal and public scrutiny.
His comments follow Dame’s rebuttal of Dr. Ayine’s rationale for dropping cases involving key National Democratic Congress (NDC) figures, including Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, Dr. Stephen Opuni, and Bank of Ghana Governor Dr. Johnson Asiama. Ayine cited a lack of legal merit, prosecutorial misconduct, and what he described as a “deficiency of common sense” in the original charges.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on February 14, 2025, Tuah-Yeboah noted that while the Attorney General can enter a nolle prosequi (NP) without explanation, Ayine’s public justification warranted responses from other legal minds, including Dame.
“He [Dr Dominic Ayine] could have just entered the nolle prosequi (NP) and filed a withdrawal without an explanation. I can’t remember the last time an AG gave reasons for a nolle prosequi or even a withdrawal. So, it is something that he has decided to do. Mind you, if you decide to reason for the discontinuation, we also have the right to question the reasons for the basis of the entry of the nolle prosequi.
“If the learned AG has had not given a reason and says, I have withdrawn it, we will sit somewhere because we know that is his right and nobody can question him. But since he decided to come out with reasons, the other party on the other side also has the right to question the bases of his nolle prosequi and the discontinuation that he filed,” he stated.
