By Issah Olegor
Attorney General and Minister for Justice Dr. Dominic Ayine has found himself in the eye of a political storm after admitting to accepting GH¢500,000 in campaign contributions from a prominent businessman, Nana Yaw Duodu, also known as “Dr Sledge.”
The admission came amid a fierce war of words with Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central, Kwame Asare-Obeng, popularly known as A Plus, who has accused the Attorney General of corruption and influence peddling.
At a press briefing on April 30, 2025, Dr. Ayine attempted to deflect allegations of corruption, insisting that receiving campaign donations did not amount to thievery.
“If receiving donations for your campaign or getting a pickup is thievery or corruption, then there are 276 thieves in Parliament, including the person who was making the allegation himself,” Ayine remarked, referring to A Plus.
However, A Plus explained that the money in question was to grease the palms of the Appointments Committee members during Ayine’s vetting to have a smooth ride.
This revelation is significant given the broader controversy surrounding the Minerals Income and Investment Fund (MIIF), which allegedly disbursed over US$119 million to Dr Sledge’s company, Goldridge Ghana Limited, under questionable terms.
Goldridge has yet to deliver the expected gold output or repay the funds, and a Fidelity Bank facility guaranteed by MIIF was seized in November 2024 following a default.
A Plus has been vocal in alleging that Ayine used his political influence to shape legislation—including the Sanitation and Pollution Levy—in favor of associates, a charge Ayine has dismissed as “palpable falsehoods.”
According to the Attorney General, he was not on the Finance Committee during the passage of the levy in 2021 and could not, therefore, influence it.
But critics point to a troubling conflict of interest: a sitting Attorney General admitting to accepting a substantial donation from a businessman who has received massive state-backed financial support through MIIF but has not delivered.
The businessman in question is not just a donor, but a politically connected figure with deep ties to the presidency, MIIF, and the gold export value chain.
Dr. Ayine, clearly rattled by the public scrutiny, challenged A Plus to present evidence of wrongdoing: “If A Plus has any evidence of corruption or thievery against me, I am challenging him today to call a press conference and present the evidence or present it to the police.”
In response, A Plus took to social media to double down on his accusations.
He alleged that Ayine not only took money from Dr Sledge but also attempted to bribe Parliament’s Appointments Committee to secure his role as Attorney General.
Dominic Ayine fired back, saying he was ready to “walk in the mud” with A Plus to defend his name.
Adding another layer to the controversy, Ayine hinted that A Plus himself might be implicated in a separate scandal involving ghost names on the National Service payroll, suggesting the MP’s outburst was a distraction from his own legal troubles.
The feud has cast a long shadow over President Mahama’s administration, which has pledged to restore accountability and clean governance.
Yet, the optics of the Attorney General defending large campaign donations from a businessman enmeshed in a financial scandal threaten to erode public confidence.
While Dr. Ayine insists the President appointed him because of his “integrity,” the growing web of financial entanglements—now linked directly to the Attorney General’s own campaign—is raising urgent questions about whether that integrity is being compromised by political debts.
With both men entrenched in a public and legal standoff, the burden now lies on oversight institutions—and perhaps Parliament itself—to step in and determine whether Ghana’s justice system can remain impartial when its lead prosecutor is himself a subject of ethical controversy.
