Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has commended the General Legal Council (GLC) for revoking the license of Chief State Attorney Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh for collecting a sum of GH¢400,000 from businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome in 2011.
The General Legal Council, in its statement, did not state categorically that the money the state attorney’s wife received from Woyome was a bribe.
But speaking on TV3’s political analysis programme, The Key Point, on Saturday, February 17, Lawyer Kpebu reaffirmed the position of the GLC that the conduct of Mr Nerquaye-Tetteh “has brought the dignity of the legal profession into disrepute,” emphasising that the conduct is not something one can hide.
“Here you are, can you look at the optics that the government is in court against Woyome, and then one of the government lawyer’s wife has received money from Woyome? You can’t justify this,” he stressed.
Lawyer Kpebu further underscored a possible case of conflict of interest. He cited Article 284 of the 1992 Constitution to buttress his point, indicating that conflict of interest must not always be the reality, but “if the optics make it look likely,” the GLC can take action.
Article 284 reads: “A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts or is likely to conflict with the performance of the function of the office.”
“So my emphasis is on the apparent conflict of interest,” lawyer Kpebu said, adding that “by analogy, this is what happens.”
But speaking at a press conference, Mr Alfred Woyome said the money was sent to Mr Nerquaye Tetteh’s wife as a philanthropic gesture.
“I do that a lot, philanthropy. That’s what i am known for,” he explained.
You can’t justify your actions – Lawyer Martin Kpebu to disbarred state attorney#TheKeyPoints pic.twitter.com/xJdcQhEOnj
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) February 17, 2024
Background
The Chief State Attorney at the Office of the Attorney-General, Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh, was expelled as a lawyer by the General Legal Council (GLC) for collecting GH¢400,000 from businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome.
This means that Mr. Nerquaye-Tetteh can never practice as a lawyer again in Ghana after the Disciplinary Committee of the GLC, the regulatory body of the legal profession, found him guilty of professional misconduct under Rule 2(2) of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct and Etiquette) Rules, 1969 (L.I. 613).
In a letter dated January 31, 2024, the GLC stated that Mr. Nerquaye-Tetteh personally oversaw the direct transfer of GH¢400,000 from Mr. Woyome to his wife’s bank account while representing the state in a lawsuit filed by Woyome in 2011.
According to the GLC, Mr. Nerquaye-Tetteh was unable to provide a plausible rationale for the GH¢400,000 that Mr. Woyome had sent into his wife’s bank account.
According to the GLC, the conduct of Mr. Nerquaye-Tetteh had adversely affected “the “dignity and high standing of the legal profession.”
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