Former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has strongly criticized his successor, Dr. Dominic Ayine, over the government's decision to discontinue multiple high-profile criminal cases involving leading figures of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

At a press conference held on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, Dr. Ayine justified the withdrawal of cases against several former government officials, prompting a sharp response from Mr. Dame, who described the move as a "preconceived ploy" by the NDC to clear its members of wrongdoing.

According to Mr. Dame, Dr. Ayine's swift actions upon assuming office point to a deliberate agenda to shield former officials of the John Mahama administration from accountability.

He outlined a timeline of case withdrawals within the first two weeks of Dr. Ayine’s tenure:

January 24, 2025: The Attorney-General abandoned the state's appeal in the case of Republic vrs. Ato Forson & 2 Others. January 28, 2025: The case against Dr. Stephen Opuni & 2 Others was withdrawn. January 29, 2025: The case against Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo & Another was also withdrawn. January 30, 2025: Two different cases against Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama were discontinued.

Mr. Dame alleged that this pattern of “one day, one withdrawal” was only interrupted by weekends, reinforcing his claim that the NDC was executing a pre-planned strategy to dismiss all legal actions against its members.

He also condemned Dr. Ayine’s remarks about the judiciary, describing them as an attempt to undermine the courts while deflecting attention from the true motivations behind the case withdrawals.

“These developments irresistibly point to only one conclusion – a calculated, preconceived ploy by the NDC to wipe out all criminal cases pending against its leading members, not through the courts, but through their Attorney-General,” Mr. Dame stated.

The former Attorney-General emphasized that no NPP-appointed Attorney-General had ever withdrawn criminal cases involving leading members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) or senior government officials during the Kufuor or Akufo-Addo administrations.

Instead, he noted that former NPP officials accused under the NDC government had contested their cases in court and won acquittals through due process.

“We secured acquittals through the courts, not by resorting to delay tactics or waiting for a friendly Attorney-General to withdraw the cases,” he asserted.

Mr. Dame further argued that the decision to prosecute high-profile cases was not made arbitrarily but was based on "painstaking investigations" conducted by authorized investigative bodies and legal consultations within the Attorney-General’s office.

He defended the work of career prosecutors, asserting that their legal expertise and diligence guided the prosecutions initiated under his tenure.

Additionally, he pointed out that Dr. Ayine and other NDC figures had served as defense lawyers in several of the now-withdrawn cases, raising questions about conflicts of interest and the true motivation behind the Attorney-General’s decisions.

Mr. Dame insisted that national interest, not political expediency, should guide the Attorney-General’s prosecutorial decisions.“The only consideration in such monumental decisions should be the national interest—not that of defense counsel,” he stated.

The former Attorney-General’s rebuttal has further fueled the political debate surrounding the Mahama administration’s legal approach, as concerns grow over the implications of discontinuing high-profile corruption cases.