Godfred Yeaboah Dame
Former Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has demanded a retraction and apology from Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu for a “false” claim made against him concerning a probe into alleged illegal mining by Akonta Mining Company Limited.
Mr. Dame, in a letter to the minister, indicated that the publication complained of “betrays the deep-seated malice you bear against me.”
According to him, 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.”
RTI Request
The Office, in an official response to a Right to Information (RTI) request on December 22, 2025, completely debunked and exposed Felix Kwakye Ofosu’s claim which suggested Mr. Dame was complicit in the alleged illegal mining activities of Akonta Mining Limited, a company owned by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, aka Chairman Wontumi.
Appearing on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana programme on October 10, 2025, Felix Kwakye Ofosu categorically stated that Mr. Dame had deliberately ignored a report confirming illegal mining activities allegedly perpetrated by Akonta Mining Company Limited.
“President Akufo-Addo was not willing to punish anybody for anything that he did under his government. They engaged in illegal mining. The Criminal Investigation Department (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 (Godfred Yeboah Dame) cannot claim that he didn’t know about the report. What they are saying by this, then is that, they didn’t investigate the claims against Akonta Mining, which is even worse,” Kwakye Ofosu said.
Host of the show, Paul Adom-Otchere, then drew his attention to the fact that he had checked with Mr. Dame, who had said that no such report was presented to him in his tenure as Attorney General.
That notwithstanding, Kwakye Ofosu maintained his unsubstantiated allegations, further indicating that, “I am saying that the Attorney General and the Government are aware. The implication of what you are saying is that he (Mr. Dame) was not fit for the job and by inaction he was complicit in galamsey by inaction.”
Shortly after the programme, a private legal practitioner, Jonathan Asare, with a reputation for conducting investigations into public interest legal matters, filed an RTI request to the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, to establish whether records at his office supported the allegations of Felix Kwakye Ofosu.
In a formal response to the RTI request signed by the designated Information Officer of the Ministry of Justice and Office of the Attorney General, Lydia Attoh, delivered on December 22, 2025, the Attorney General replied denying the claims by Kwakye Ofosu that investigations by the CID on Akonta Mining were concluded by the CID before 2025 and a docket presented to the former Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame in his tenure in office.
The Office further stated that the docket was only presented to the ministry on September 15, 2025.
Retraction
Mr. Dame has now written to Kwakye Ofosu demanding a retraction and apology for the reputation damaging comments made on national television without any proof.
The letter highlighted Mr. Dame’s “respectable record” as a legal practitioner with about twenty-three years standing at the Bar.
“My career reflects active devotion to the promotion of human rights, constitutionalism and freedom of expression.
“I contributed to the advancement of the frontiers of freedom of expression and the creation of a much freer environment for the exercise of journalism in accordance with appropriate constitutional principles under Ghanaian law,” he pointed out.
He contends that the publication falsely attributes to him complicity or involvement in the criminal enterprise of illegal mining (galamsey) and conspiracy with other actors to facilitate the heinous destruction of the environment in Ghana.
He further holds that the false claims asserted “unfitness” for the position of Attorney General and Minister for Justice, thereby depicting him “as a criminal.”
These meanings, he said, are clearly defamatory in a serious way and calculated to disparage him, adding that they stray way beyond the permissible limits of free speech and brings him into public odium and contempt.
Mr. Dame has, therefore, given Kwakye Ofosu seven days after receipt of the letter to retract and apologise for the publication complained of, the deletion of same from all online platforms, as well as the delivery of a formal written apology to him, acknowledging the harm caused him.
The former Attorney General added that he will “surely institute legal proceedings” against Kwakye Ofosu and Metro TV should he fail to comply with his demands within seven days of delivery of his letter.