The Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Ghana, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has revealed that directors of the collapsed uniBank Ghana Limited have proposed a GH¢2 billion settlement to resolve a GH¢3.3 billion liability owed to the state.
Dr. Ayine made the disclosure on Monday, July 28, 2025, while addressing journalists at the Government Accountability Series in Accra. According to him, the accused persons sent the proposal in a letter dated May 7, 2025, after months of negotiations with the state.
The Attorney General explained that the proposed settlement includes the transfer of assets worth GH¢800 million and cooperation from the accused to help the government recover GH¢1.2 billion from third parties.
“The accused persons offered to pay GH¢2 billion in full and final settlement of the outstanding obligation,” Ayine stated. “This includes GH¢800 million in assets and their active cooperation with the Receiver to retrieve an additional GH¢1.2 billion from direct beneficiaries,” he added.
However, the court is yet to approve the proposal, and no final decision has been taken by the state on whether the settlement will be accepted.
uniBank, once one of Ghana’s promising indigenous banks, collapsed in 2018 following a major financial sector clean-up by the Bank of Ghana (BoG). The central bank revoked the bank’s operating license, citing insolvency and related-party transactions that allegedly violated banking regulations.
The collapse of uniBank was one of the biggest shocks in Ghana’s banking industry, leading to job losses, loss of investor confidence, and public outcry over the management of indigenous financial institutions.
After revoking the bank’s license, the Bank of Ghana appointed a Receiver to take over operations and recover assets. The Receiver has since been pursuing legal action to recover funds from the bank’s directors and shareholders.
Among those implicated in the case is Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, a former Minister of Finance and a key shareholder in the bank. The state accused the directors and shareholders of misappropriating funds, engaging in unlawful transactions, and breaching banking regulations, which contributed to the bank’s collapse.
In 2020, the Attorney General’s office filed criminal charges against some of the directors for alleged financial malfeasance, including money laundering, fraudulent breach of trust, and dishonest appropriation of funds.
Initially, the total amount involved in the case was estimated at over GH¢5 billion. However, after reconciliations and asset valuations, the figure was revised to GH¢3.3 billion.
The ongoing legal battle has attracted significant public attention, with many Ghanaians demanding accountability for the loss of billions in taxpayers’ money during the financial sector crisis. The proposed GH¢2 billion settlement marks a major development in the case, but legal experts say the court will have to determine whether the offer satisfies the state’s recovery objectives.
The financial sector clean-up exercise carried out by the Bank of Ghana between 2017 and 2019 led to the collapse of several banks and savings and loans companies. The exercise aimed to stabilise the banking industry and restore public confidence, but it also raised questions about regulatory oversight and corporate governance in the sector.
Analysts believe the outcome of the uniBank case will set a precedent for similar cases involving directors of collapsed financial institutions. It will also influence how the state handles negotiations for the recovery of funds from individuals and businesses implicated in the financial crisis.
For now, all eyes are on the court as Ghanaians wait to see if the proposed settlement will bring an end to one of the country’s biggest banking scandals in recent history.
