Summary: Ghana’s Attorney-General has halted the prosecution of former finance minister Dr Kwabena Duffuor and seven others involved in the collapse of uniBank due to the recovery of 60% of financial losses. The move marks a shift in policy towards prioritising national interest and fiscal responsibility over punitive justice.
In a decisive policy shift, Ghana’s Attorney-General Dominic Akuritinga Ayine has withdrawn all criminal proceedings against former finance minister Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and seven others involved in the collapse of uniBank, following the reported recovery of at least 60% of the state’s financial losses tied to the case.
The move, announced through an official press release on Monday and first reported by Accra Street Journal and corroborated by SKB Journal, is grounded in what the Attorney-General’s office described as a “pragmatic” approach to resource recovery over prolonged litigation. A nolle prosequi was filed in The Republic v. Kwabena Duffuor & 7 Others (CR/0248/2020), effectively terminating the years-long prosecution.
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“This decision does not imply an absence of wrongdoing,” read the statement, noting that the judgment was informed by a cost-benefit analysis that prioritized national interest and fiscal responsibility over punitive justice.
A Strategic Departure from Protracted Litigation
The discontinued prosecution is part of a broader recalibration in Ghana’s legal handling of financial malfeasance. Ghana’s financial sector reform, which began in 2018, led to the collapse or forced merger of multiple banks and microfinance institutions. The initiative aimed to sanitize the sector, ensure solvency, and rebuild confidence. But it also opened the floodgates for court battles involving top executives accused of mismanagement, regulatory breaches, and outright fraud.
According to the Attorney-General’s statement, a new prosecutorial threshold has been adopted: where at least 60% of state losses are recovered, the case may be reconsidered in the interest of the public purse.
Dr. Duffuor—former Governor of the Bank of Ghana and founder of the now-defunct uniBank—has remained one of the most politically and financially prominent figures entangled in the aftermath of the sector cleanup. His prosecution was a litmus test for how Ghana handles high-stakes financial governance, and whether white-collar criminal accountability could match that of the street-level.
The statement adds that the Attorney-General “remains committed to protecting public funds and will not hesitate to pursue justice where public interest so demands.” But in this instance, officials argued that continuation of the prosecution was unlikely to result in additional recoveries, only prolonged litigation costs.
Implications for Ghana’s Legal Strategy
Legal analysts speaking to Accra News Journal suggest this move could set a precedent in Ghana’s financial governance architecture, where pragmatic recovery models could take precedence over long-drawn criminal trials—especially when those trials risk eroding investor confidence or derailing settlement negotiations.
This outcome is expected to renew public debate on whether financial accountability is best served in courtrooms or boardrooms, and whether negotiated recoveries undermine or enhance rule of law.
As for Dr. Duffuor, the dropped charges may ease his path to return to public life, but questions remain on whether partial financial restitution sufficiently addresses the structural failures that brought Ghana’s banking sector to the brink.
Last Updated on March 9, 2026 by Samuel Kwame Boadu
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Samuel Kwame Boadu is a Ghanaian media entrepreneur and storyteller with a passion for amplifying urban voices and uncovering everyday truths. He is the Editor-in-Chief and Founder of Accra Street Journal, a dynamic digital platform dedicated to capturing the pulse of Ghana’s capital—its people, culture, challenges, business, sports and innovations.
