Martin Amidu (L) calls for criminal investigation into Ayine’s purchase of printers for EOCO
Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has slammed the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, over his recent admission that he bought printers for the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) using his personal funds.
Martin Amidu, who himself served as Attorney General and Minister of Justice, in a statement copied to GhanaWeb, said that Dr Ayine’s action is not only illegal but also points to issues of conflict of interest and bribery.
He said that the current Attorney General should know that the law mandates only the Minister of Finance to approve such a donation to security agencies like EOCO, adding that the actions of Dr Ayine must be investigated.
“A Minister of State appointed pursuant to Article 78 of the 1992 Constitution and paid out of public funds pursuant to Article 71 thereof has no business making selective personal donations to any public institution under his supervision on the grounds of lack of conflict of interest because he wants the entity to work efficiently. A personal donation of even one heavy-duty printer by a Member of Parliament who is also a cabinet minister to any public institution will be the equivalent of the minister’s monthly emoluments. The donation of six
heavy-duty printers by such a minister to any entity, therefore, calls for urgent criminal investigations.
“On Friday, 31 October 2025, the mainstream and online media reported that Dominic Ayine,
the Attorney General, had told the PAC of Parliament that he had bought six heavy-duty
printers from his ‘own money or funds’ for EOCO. In Ayine’s words: ‘There is no conflict in
this because I wanted the entity to work efficiently, and that is why I had to make that
donation.’ But in fact and in law, Ayine’s conduct has every hallmark of conflict of interest,
bribery and corruption, unconstitutionality, and an incorrigibly blatant weaponisation of law
enforcement for purely political objectives,” he said.
Martin Amidu added, “Dominic Ayine knows that any donation to EOCO by anybody, including himself in his private capacity, which does not satisfy Section 15(b) of Act 804 in the sense of having been approved by the Minister responsible for Finance, is an unlawful donation tainted with illegality.”
Watch what Dr Ayine said:
Dr Ayine, in response to concerns raised by members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) regarding whether EOCO had received any grants or donations from unapproved sources,
disclosed that he personally financed the purchase of six printers for the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).
He clarified that EOCO does not receive financial support or grants from private individuals, emphasising that his contribution was a personal gesture aimed at supporting the institution’s work and does not constitute a conflict of interest.
“If you look at the listed entities, for instance, the Bank of Ghana, it’s government; it’s part of the apparatus of the state. EOCO does not receive such donations from private persons because of issues of conflict of interest. For example, when I assumed office in February, one of the things they briefed me on was that they did not have printers.
“We looked everywhere; we couldn’t find the funds to buy the printers. I purchased six heavy-duty printers for them out of my own funds. There is no conflict in this because I wanted the entity to work efficiently, which is why I made that contribution,” he noted.
BAI