Godfred Yeboah Dame

RETRACT AND APOLOGISE OR I WILL SUE YOU – GODFRED DAME WARNS OFOSU KWAKYE

FORMER A-G, GODFRED DAME DEMANDS RETRACTION AND APOLOGY FROM OFOSU KWAKYE

Former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has taken the current Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye-Ofosu to task over what he deems untruthful and malicious publications made about the former Attorney-General.

Mr. Dame has, in a letter dated 12th March, 2026 delivered to Mr. Ofosu Kwakye and only now sighted by the media, demanded the Minister for Government Communications to take the following actions within seven (7) days of receipt of the letter:

1. A retraction and apology for the utterly false publication about me (Godfred Dame) on Metro TV’s “Good Morning Ghana programme on 10th October, 2025 the subject matter of this letter.
2. A permanent deletion of the publication complained of from all online portals.
3. Delivery of a formal written apology to me (Godfred Dame), acknowledging the harm caused.

Basis for the demand
In the demand notice, the former Attorney-General noted that on Friday, 10th October, 2025, Felix Kwakye Ofosu appeared as a panellist on the widely watched television programme on an Accra-based television station - Metro TV - dubbed “Good Morning Ghana”, and made allegations that Mr. Dame was complicit in illegal mining (galamsey) by allegedly refusing to take action on a docket on Akonta Mining presented to the former Attorney-General when he was in office.

“On the said programme, you categorically asserted without any basis that I, the undersigned, when serving the Republic in the capacity of Attorney-General and Minister for Justice from 2021 to 2025, had deliberately ignored a report confirming illegal mining activities allegedly perpetrated by Akonta Mining Company Limited, a company owned by the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Bosiako (Wontumi). According to you, the report had been presented to me in office as Attorney-General of the Republic by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service. Among other things, you stated:
President Akufo-Addo was not willing to punish anybody for anything that he did under his government. They engaged in illegal mining. The CID investigates, and then you come on national television and say that the person who has been fingered in that CID report is innocent, and did nothing … he knew It… If he didn’t know, then he did not deserve to be in the position. The Attorney-General of the day [my good self] cannot claim that he didn’t know about the report.” Parts of the letter written by Godfred Yeboah Dame stated.

Remarkably, a co-panellist on the programme with you, Mr. Paul Adom-Otchere, intervened almost immediately and drew the attention of the Minister for Government Communications to the falsity and seriousness of the wild allegations he had made about him live on a television programme watched throughout the nation and accessible globally via Facebook, YouTube and other modern instruments for transmission of information. Specifically, Mr. Adom-Otchere stated on the programme: “Maybe you should call the Attorney-General and ask him … that the Government Minister says you are aware of the report. He says I am not aware of the report”.

According to Godfred Dame, surprisingly, spurred on by a vicious desire to disseminate false and defamatory information about his good self, Felix Kwakye-Ofosu continued to say:
“Paul, what you are saying has grave implications for the competence of Godfred Dame as Attorney-General. What you are saying is that … I am saying that there was a CID report done in 2022 and given to the Government which they did not act on. I am saying that the Attorney-General and the Government are aware. The implication of what you are saying is that he (Dame) was not fit for the job and by inaction he was complicit in galamsey by inaction.”

RTI Request and falsity of Ofosu Kwakye’s allegations
The former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice who served the Republic from 2021 – 2025, asserts that Ofosu Kwakye’s false allegations were republished by various websites and media houses and sparked intense alarm and dismay in view of the seriousness of the subject matter and the deep implications for him, a citizen who held the respectable office of Attorney-General and Minister for Justice for four years. Consequently, one Jonathan Asare, a Ghanaian private legal practitioner, filed a right to information (RTI) request to the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice to ascertain the veracity of the allegations.

However, in a response to the RTI request signed by the designated Information Officer of the Ministry of Justice and Office of the Attorney-General, a Lydia Attoh, delivered on 22nd December, 2025, the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice categorically exposed the falsity of Ofosu Kwakye’s claims when it indicated that the CID did not present any docket on the alleged mining activities of Akonta Mining Limited to the Office or to Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame between 2022 and 2024.

Further, the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice stated clearly that the docket on Akonta Mining, in relation to which the current Minister for Government Communications made the allegations, was presented to the office only on 15th September, 2025. Mr. Dame attached a copy of the responses to the RTI request delivered by the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice to the demand notice on Felix Ofosu Kwakye for ease of reference.

Defamation and implications for reputation
The former Attorney-General in his demand on the current Minister for Government Communications, noted that the allegations by Felix Kwakye Ofosu “were not only false but sinister, reckless and malicious given that as Minister for Government Communications, you have access to every means of verifying the truth of information you publish about the official record of former senior officials of government and all ministries in the Republic. Your statements about me, like many others you have published about me on different occasions in the past, were the product of a hateful and vicious imagination. The recklessness with which you published the words complained of betrays the deep-seated malice you bear against me. Indeed, the internet and mass media are replete with many false and malicious statements you in particular, and other associates of your political party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in general, have made about me. Mr. Dame stated.

To demonstrate the harm caused by Felix Kwakye Ofosu’s defamatory publication, the former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice touted his respectable record as a legal practitioner with about twenty-three years standing at the Bar, which “reflects active devotion to the promotion of human rights, constitutionalism and freedom of expression”. Mr. Dame noted that he acted as counsel “in some of the most significant trials in the courts of Ghana over twenty years ago (at a time that you [Felix Kwakye Ofosu] had not even entered the university”.

Mr. Dame further pointed out to Felix Kwakye Ofosu that in public service, he earned an even more respectable image on the international stage as on numerous occasions as he led projects and represented Ghana on various fora including, the United Nations, the African Union, Economic Community of West-African States (ECOWAS) and international tribunals. “My record in an effective and sound legal representation of the State internationally speaks for itself.” Mr. Dame stated.

The former Attorney-General observed further that the publication in falsely attributing to him complicity in the criminal enterprise of illegal mining (galamsey), directly depicted him as a criminal. Other allegations by Ofosu Kwakye about him were also clearly defamatory in a serious way, calculated to disparage him and “stray way beyond the permissible limits of free speech and brings me into public odium and contempt.”

He served a warning on the Minister for Government Communications that “should you fail to comply with this demand within 7 days of the delivery of this letter, I will surely institute legal proceedings against you and the owners of Metro TV (the network which provided you the platform) for punitive and aggravated damages for defamation as well as costs of litigation.”

On Tuesday, the 10th day of February, 2026, the Legal Team of the NPP 2012 Presidential Election petition paid a courtesy visit to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia at his residence to congratulate him on his resounding victory in the recently concluded NPP presidential primaries.
The team included the lead counsel of the petitioners' legal team, Mr. Philip Addison, Lawyer Frank Davies, immediate past Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, Lawyers Stephen Dapaah-Addo, Alex Quaynor, Kweku Asirifi and Egbert Faibille.

The team reaffirmed their unwavering loyalty to Dr. Bawumia and belief in the ability of Dr. Bawumia to recapture power for the NPP in 2028.

Dr. Bawumia, in turn, noted that his life in Ghana politics cannot be complete without a recount of the role he played in the famous Election Petition of 2012, as that marked "a watershed moment" in his political journey.
He expressed his gratitude for the continued support of the legal team.

MY VIEWS ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM - NO NEED FOR OVERHAUL
First aired on 9th January, 2024.

Filing of Documents to be relied on by A-G in Republic vrs. Ato Forson.

Record of proceedings on first day of the Ato Forson Trial.

The penchant of the Attorney-General, Dr. Dominic Ayine, to peddle untruths in his press conferences is becoming quite alarming.
1. On 28th July, 2025, he stated with some boldness, that it took the Attorney-General six (6) months to file witness statements in the Republic vrs. Ato Forson & 2 Others trial. This is palpably false, just like many other statements by him.

The accused persons in the Republic Vrs. Ato Forson & 2 Others case were arraigned before court for the first time on 18th January, 2022. The court, on that day, gave directions for filing of disclosures after the grant of bail to all the accused and adjourned proceedings to 15th February, 2022. The Prosecution complied with the order of the court and filed all documents to rely on, including all intended exhibits, documents required by the defence and all witness statements of witnesses to be called by the Republic on 14th February, 2022 – within 27 days (less than one month), and not 6 months as wildly claimed by Dr. Ayine.

For the sake of banishing falsehoods and exposing the ways of the wicked, I hereby exhibit a copy of the record of proceedings for 18th January, 2022 and the process titled “Documents To Be Relied On” filed by the Attorney-General on 14th February, 2022.

The Office of the Attorney-General never, on a single occasion in the “Ato Forson” trial, requested further time to file a witness statement, or indeed, any document at all.

2. The important question is, how can the period of 27 days within which the Attorney-General filed witness statements and documents to be relied on in the “Ato Forson” trial appear to be six (6) months in the mind of Dr. Ayine? Is it sheer recklessness or a deliberate effort to make his predecessor and for that matter the Office he now heads, look bad? The docket on the case is in Dr. Ayine’s office and the facts could easily have been verified. I have said before, that, the tendency of the Attorney-General to publish plain untruths, half-truths and misinformation against the prosecuting team and courts adjudicating cases previously being prosecuted by his Office, is highly unprofessional. Dr. Ayine’s actions constitute an attack on the very Office he now heads.

3. The inescapable reality of Dr. Ayine’s latest act and ex post facto rationalisations (laden with contradictions and inconsistencies as they are) is that, he sought to free his former clients from the clutches of criminal prosecution through the exercise of the power of nolle prosequi. That is the first disclosure he should have made to the public at his press conference. Ghanaians deserve this basic courtesy.

4. Dr. Ayine ought not mislead the public into thinking that through some unprecedented genius, he has recovered assets or money for the State. All the assets of the Duffuors, Unibank and related companies as well as other persons being prosecuted with them, had already been identified by the Receivers of Unibank appointed by Bank of Ghana. The Receiver already had a full list and profile of assets owned by them. Dr. Ayine should indicate to the public when either himself or his team this year discovered any new assets owned by the Duffuors.

The record will reflect the fact that, to date, Dr. Ayine has not recovered a single Cedi in the Unibank matter. What he proposes to do, and for which he has already entered nolle prosequi, is to, in future, use some of the assets already identified by the Receiver to defray what he has unilaterally determined to be owed by the accused persons. Instructively, this arrangement is not pursued under any law. It is only pursuant to the exercise of Ayine’s power of nolle prosequi. Dr. Ayine thus, cannot lay claim to recovering any more assets than what the Receiver already has. He also cannot claim to have recovered for the Republic any money from the accused persons this year.

Questions arising include, was any agreement executed with the Republic before the entry of nolle prosequi, and if so, when? Where is that agreement? Has any fair and objective valuation of the properties been done, and if so, when? Where is the valuation report? In the event of default, what is the penalty and how enforceable is it?

5. In Republic Vrs. William Ato Essien – a case arsing out of the collapse of Capital Bank - the amount admitted as owed by Ato Essien himself was GHC27Million. The State in an agreement entered into under section 35 of the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459), settled on GHC90Million to be paid by the accused person. The accused paid GHC30Million in cash before the settlement was adopted by the court, with the rest to be paid over a period of one year. When he defaulted after paying GHC9million in addition to the GHC30Million deposit, the Attorney-General applied to the court for him to be sentenced to a term in prison. Ato Essien is presently in custody serving a 15 year jail term.

I daresay that, on account of the “RESETTING” of prosecution we are witnessing, there is no justification for Ato Essien to be in jail. Free Ato Essien now!

6. I ask, under what circumstance does Dr. Ayine claim that counsel for the accused in the Beige Bank case offered him GHC10Million? I assert that there is no record of this. I challenge Dr. Ayine to produce receipt of such a proposal, and, his official response. Was it a proposal to Ayine in his private capacity?

7. The State lost the Beige Bank case under Dr. Ayine’s watch on an appeal against a ruling on a submission of no case filed by the accused. Alarmingly, instead of exploring means of challenging the correctness of the decision of the Court of Appeal at the Supreme Court, Dr. Ayine seems very satisfied with the development and has already made comments suggestive of a disinclination to appeal.

8. I have been wondering why Ayine paints such a dreary and bleak picture of the prosecution of financial crimes? The facts show that between 2017 and 2025, the only high-profile financial crime case in which the Office failed to secure conviction was Republic vrs. Ato Forson & 2 Others, in which the accused persons were acquitted in a curious 2 – 1 judgment of the Court of Appeal, and in respect of which Dr. Ayine abandoned the conduct of an appeal filed by the Attorney-General and pending at the Supreme Court, at the time he took office as Attorney-General. The Office secured conviction in Republic Vrs. Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie & Others, Republic Vrs. Sedinam Tamakloe Attionu, Republic Vrs. Daniel Duku & Others (the Venture Capital Case), Republic Vrs. William Ato Essien, etc.

Indeed, on Sedinam Tamakloe Attionu, Dr. Ayine ought to brief the nation on what he is doing to extradite the lady to serve her sentence in Ghana or to trace her assets.

Ayine should simply declare his fundamental aversion to prosecution of financial crimes against a section of the Ghanaian society, and an appetite for cutting deals in lieu of prosecution.

9. The allegation of undue delay in the prosecution of white-collar crime regularly put up by Dr. Ayine as justification for cutting deals in lieu of prosecution, is a sham and ought to be rejected by the nation. The record will again reflect the fact that the inordinate delay in the trial of serious financial crime cases filed against leading members of the erstwhile NDC administration, witnessed in this country the past 8 years, were all a product of the tactics and machinations of defence counsel including Dr. Ayine. Unfortunately, they were aided by the justice system as they filed numerous interlocutory applications, appeals and judicial review applications at the Supreme Court. It is ironic that the first significant action by the Attorney-General, when the NDC assumed power, was to discontinue all of such cases filed against leading members of the NDC, completely impeding accountability and the rule of law.

10. I recall that, to cure the undue delays with the prosecution of criminal cases generally, I laid in Parliament and spearheaded through to near passage, an amendment to the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act, which would eliminate most of the bottlenecks with the criminal procedure laws of the country including a suspension of the filing of interlocutory appeals until the submission of no case stage, and ensure day to day trial of criminal cases. If Dr. Ayine seeks to speed up the trial of financial cases, he ought to reintroduce that Bill into Parliament (just as he has done with the constitutional instrument on the Removal of Justices of the Superior Courts, which he adopted in full without changing a single clause when he assumed office and has since laid in Parliament).

11. A careful analysis of all the cases discontinued by Dr. Ayine, would show an abandonment of the pursuit of a total of over Seven Billion Ghana Cedis (GHC7,000,000,000), if one were to exclude the deal for GHC2Billion that Ayine claims to have struck in the Unibank case. The Republic, through Dr. Ayine’s decision to discontinue the prosecution of the cases, has automatically lost this gargantuan amount. It calls for an enquiry.

12. As a footnote, I cannot lose sight of the condescending tone in which Dr. Ayine frequently speaks about his predecessors with comments like “... those who started the prosecution did not do this, .... they failed to do this, ... but I am doing this”, etc. cannot be lost on all.

The record shows that the Attorney-General who commenced prosecution of most of the banking sector cases, that Dr. Ayine treats with disdain, was Miss Gloria Afua Akuffo, who is many years senior to Dr. Ayine both at the Bar and in office. In fact, it goes without saying that all of Ghana’s previous Attorneys-General are Dr. Ayine’s seniors in office. Lol. They deserve utmost respect.

The veiled disparagement of former Attorneys-General by Dr. Ayine departs from the conservative traditions of that high office and is most unfortunate.

LEGALLY SPEAKING ...!

Godfred Yeboah Dame,
Dame & Partners,
Accra.
29/07/25

I am grateful to the Lord Almighty for the gift of another year.
I am deeply grateful for the warm wishes and love received from all.
Your thoughtfulness will make memories of this occasion priceless.

Greetings Thaddeus Sory, Esq.,
Your predilection to comment on the slightest thing I do or say is not lost on the public. For some time now, you have been expending enormous energy, time and resources to launch public attacks on me in relation to my work. I live in your mind rent free. Indeed, your obsession with Godfred Dame is bewildering and needs healing.
The abusive and offensive language you employ is deplored by most decent minded legal practitioners, and in clear contravention of the rules of professional conduct and etiquette governing the legal profession, coming from one with considerable standing at the Bar. I leave the authorities that regulate the legal profession and are responsible for upholding standards of professional conduct to judge. I have always ignored the write-ups you have produced about me. For the first time, however, and hopefully it will be the last, I am compelled to correct a few things you have got fundamentally wrong. I will ignore the rest of the falsehood in your write-up as part of the vile propaganda you regularly engage in against me, which all can see through.
1. You state at paragraph 22, that, I “wear [my] record of never losing a case as a badge of honour”, in my tenure as Attorney-General. You quipped “what has changed?”

Clearly, you are wrong. The allegation is mischievous and only continues a series of falsehoods often produced by lawyers of the NDC ilk to feed their foot soldiers. The record will show that as Attorney-General, I publicly touted some significant losses suffered by my office in very important matters in the Superior Courts of Judicature as a symbol of judicial independence in Ghana. On 11th September, 2023, at the Annual Bar Conference in Cape Coast, I had this to say:

“When I look back at certain cases whose outcomes I consider undesirable, regardless of my own views on the questions being judged in them, I come to the conclusion that, what we have in this country is a fiercely independent Judiciary in which all of us should take pride that, an aggrieved citizen can go to a court of law and challenge anyone, including decisions of the President and Parliament, and be confident that the Court will give a decision without fear or favour. I refer to recent decisions of the Supreme Court in the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development & 8 others vrs. The Attorney-General, Ezuame Mannan vrs. The Attorney-General and vrs. The Attorney-General.

Again, on 9th September, 2024, at the Bar Conference in Kumasi, I proudly exhibited some of my losses.

“I can confidently say that I have been an Attorney-General in whose tenure the Judiciary has demonstrated complete independence and strength through decisions it gives in cases involving the State. In both civil and criminal jurisdictions, my Office has had many victories, but we have also experienced some adverse decisions. Examples are the decisions of the Supreme Court in Ghana Centre for Democratic Development & 8 others vrs. The Attorney-General (the removal of former Auditor-General, Mr. Dormelovo from office), Appiagyei Atuah vrs. The Attorney-General (the Imposition of Restrictions in Covid-19 case) and Ezuame Mannan vrs. the Attorney-General and the Speaker of Parliament (the Narcotics Control Commission Law case).

You would notice that most of these defeats were by a unanimous verdict of the Supreme Court. I will add to my losses the controversial 2-1 majority decision of the Court of Appeal in Republic vrs. Cassiel Ato Forson & 2 Others, whose correctness the current Attorney-General prevented the Supreme Court from assessing, by swiftly filing a notice of withdrawal when the NDC assumed power in January, 2025.

2. I note that in life, when one enjoys tremendous success in a field of endeavour or an office, there is the tendency to assume that one experienced no failure on any occasion. You and the NDC may thus be forgiven to think that I “never lost a case as Attorney-General”.

3. You state at paragraph 23 of your write-up that you “once asked: how did your [referring to me] legal acumen suddenly improve just because you became Attorney-General?”

Oh Thaddeus! Doth ye have such short memory? Have you forgotten that in the only full trial of a case you and I happened to be on opposing sides between 2007 and 2009 when you were at Dery & Co., you lost miserably (potoo, as we say in Ghanaian parlance) when judgment was delivered by Ofosu-Quartey J. in May, 2009? Unperturbed, you led your clients to pursue an appeal at the Court of Appeal and lost again, in a judgment delivered on 25th July, 2013. Was I the Attorney-General in those years?

A person who cursorily reads your write-up will be permitted to infer that you suffer pangs of jealousy. This, I cannot help. I can only urge you not to be quick to boast of your “legal acumen”, as you put it, or soil the hard-earned reputation of your fellow lawyers.

4. When as Deputy Attorney-General, I valiantly conducted many dangerous cases much to the chagrin of the NDC, including a recovery of part of the Woyome ill-gotten cash, was I the Attorney-General? For your reminder, part of the Woyome cash (the “balance” as we say in Ghana) is outstanding. Use your “legal acumen” to assist the current Attorney-General to recover with interest, instead of expending time and energy in coming to the Supreme Court every day to monitor how cases affecting Torkonoo CJ are going, even when you are not counsel in it.

5. Fortunately, the “legal acumen” you claimed I found when I was appointed Attorney-General was not limited to the domestic territories of Ghana. I deployed same to the successful defence of Ghana’s interests in many international arbitration cases and foreign courts, saving the nation billions of United States Dollars. In point of fact, in my tenure as Attorney-General, Ghana emerged victorious in all the international arbitrations my humble self and my able deputies led the Office to conduct without the aid of foreign counsel. In tribute to Ghana’s legal talent, I say that in the last international arbitration conducted solely by myself and my colleague Deputy Attorneys-General, which culminated in an award delivered on 18th November, 2024, Ghana’s case was roundly upheld with costs of about US$2.2 Million in her favour.

6. In all humility, I say, as a testament to the strength of Ghana’s judicial system, that the record of the consistent success I enjoyed in the courts in innumerable high-profile cases I conducted between 2003 and 2007 (as a relatively junior lawyer) and between 2009 and 2017 ( when I was not the Attorney-General but a lawyer who was a member of the opposition), is there for all to verify. It is this independence of Ghana’s judiciary that I see is threatened by recent happenings in Ghana, and which I seek to protect. You and the NDC’s desperation to churn out a false narrative now will not change the situation.

7. I have never said that you have not represented NPP clients. I am aware of your association with NPP clients particularly, when you were a junior to Mr. Ambrose Dery in Dery & Co. The irrefutable point I make now is that Mr. Tsikata was President Mahama’s lawyer in the last election petition in 2020. You are the current Speaker of Parliament’s lawyer and double as lawyer for a person who is aggrieved by judgments delivered by the Chief Justice against him in his attempt to recover some gargantuan money from Ecobank. If you do not find it “incongruous” that the lawyers of the heads of two arms of government have teamed up to remove the lady Chief Justice of the Republic from office, I cannot fault you.

You assert your duty to “represent anyone who retains” you. Do I not owe the same duty?

This, I hope will be my only and ever response to you. I will continue to ignore all your provocative comments. However, knowing your obsession with me, I am sure it will draw more abuse from you.
As they say, “when Godfred Dame coughs, the whole NDC catches a cold”.

24th May, 2025
Godfred Yeboah Dame,
Dame & Partners,
Accra.