The current Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, has revealed that an internal memo from Ghana’s prosecution division of the Ministry of Justice advised former Attorney General Godfred Dame to drop criminal charges against Bank of Ghana official Dr Johnson Asiama.
Justifying his decision to discontinue the case, Dr Ayine told journalists at a press conference on Wednesday, 12 February 2025, that he reviewed it after taking office and sighted the memo that raised serious concerns about the strength of the evidence against Dr. Asiama.
The document, which was addressed to former Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame, explicitly recommended that the charges be withdrawn.
“My review of some of the cases revealed fatal flaws in the case of the prosecution. A few of the examples are in order. In two of the banking trials ongoing, I took the decision to withdraw the charges against Mr. Johnson Asiama for the simple reason that in the course of my review of the cases, my attention was drawn to an internal memo prepared by the prosecutions division of our department for the attention of the former AG, the Hon. Godfred Yeboah Dame, which recommended that the charges against him be dropped. This is very significant,” he stated.
The decision to drop the charges has sparked debate, with critics questioning the handling of high-profile financial cases.
