Deputy Attorney General Justice Srem-Sai has criticised former Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame over his comments regarding the withdrawal of charges against accused persons in the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) case.
Mr Dame, who is legal counsel for former NAFCO Chief Executive Officer Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, had described the withdrawal of the charges as an abuse of legal process.
On May 5, 2026, the Attorney General discontinued all charges against the former NAFCO boss and his wife in an ongoing criminal case after investigators reportedly uncovered fresh evidence relating to the matter.
According to Mr Dame, the development raises concerns about the conduct of criminal prosecutions and law enforcement processes in Ghana.
However, speaking to the media on Thursday, May 7, Dr Srem-Sai defended the decision, insisting that the move was consistent with standard criminal procedure whenever new evidence emerges during investigations.
“You cannot just come to court when you have fresh evidence in a criminal trial and start throwing around the evidence,” he said.
“You need to hear from the accused persons regarding the fresh evidence. That will inform your final decision whether you will charge the person or not. But to say that fresh evidence is not available merely because you don’t have it is completely improper and unethical.”
Dr Srem-Sai maintained that the prosecution remained confident in its case against the accused persons despite the withdrawal of the charges.
“We are still confident that we have a strong case against the accused person, there is no doubt about that,” he stated.
“A fresh evidence means you have discovered something new. Whether that will lead to a new charge or beef up the old case is why we need to interrogate the accused person to hear his side of the story.”
He further argued that seeking additional interrogation after uncovering new evidence is a routine aspect of criminal investigations and questioned why the former Attorney General had publicly criticised the process.
“It is part of criminal procedure to do that whenever you have fresh evidence. I don’t know why this has become an issue for the former Attorney General, who should know better, to be lamenting across the media, making the same point,” he added.
