Private legal practitioner Kwame Boafo Akufo has described the collapse of UniBank as a process marred by legal inconsistencies and what he calls “remarkably painful error,” raising fresh concerns about the legitimacy of the 2018 banking sector clean-up exercise.
His comments come in the wake of the Attorney-General’s decision on July 22 to file a ‘nolle prosequi’ in the criminal case involving former Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and seven others.
The accused had been standing trial for alleged offenses including theft and money laundering in connection with UniBank’s insolvency.
Speaking in an interview on *Morning Starr* with Naa Dedei Tettey on Thursday, July 31, Mr. Akufo stated that no forensic audit had been conducted to verify the financial claims that led to UniBank’s collapse.
“So far as I’m concerned the records do not disclose that the forensic audit was done. In fact, indeed the KPNG issued the report and said that the figures that they were relying on were not figures which were validated and that’s why the basis of the exercise itself was fraught with remarkably painful error,” Akufo said.
He further argued that the entire process was not in alignment with legal standards.
“These matters that took place were not in alignment with the law, they were not in alignment with the law.”
Akufo also refrained from speculating on individual motives behind the collapse but insisted that the lack of proper auditing and the use of unverified figures render the Bank of Ghana’s actions questionable.
“The decision to revoke UniBank’s license was based on figures that were not only unaudited but, by KPMG’s own admission, not validated. That alone shows the exercise was deeply flawed,” he added.
The case, ‘The Republic v. Kwabena Duffuor & 7 Others (CR/0248/2020)’, was part of the broader financial sector clean-up that saw the closure of several indigenous banks.
However, Deputy Attorney-General Dr. Justice Srem-Sai said the state was discontinuing the case due to “significant recoveries” of public funds—reaching at least 60% of the alleged losses.
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has slammed the Attorney-General’s move to drop the case, calling it a betrayal of the public’s trust.
They have demanded a full explanation and are considering legal action, arguing that the discontinuation undermines accountability and also set bad precedent.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
