Chief State Attorney expelled from the bar for accepting GH¢400,000 from Woyome 

A Chief State Attorney at the Office of the Attorney-General, Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh, has been disbarred as a lawyer by the General Legal Council (GLC) for collecting GH¢400,000 from businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome in 2011.

Mr Nerquaye-Tetteh was disbarred, meaning he 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 notice dated January 31, 2024, the GLC said while defending the state against a suit by Woyome in 2011, Mr Nerquaye-Tetteh personally caused the direct transfer of an amount of GH¢400,000 from Mr Woyome to the bank account of his wife.

Mr Nerquaye-Tetteh, the GLC said could not offer any reasonable explanation for the said transfer of the GH¢400,000 into his wife’s bank account from Mr Woyome.

According to the GLC, the conduct of Mr Nerquaye-Tetteh had adversely affected “the “dignity and high standing of the legal profession.”

“That, he, as a lawyer and a Chief State Attorney, having acted as counsel for the State in the case, Alfred Agbesi Woyome vrs. Attorney General & Anor had an amount of Four Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢400,000.00) transferred directly from Mr Alfred Woyome into the bank account of his wife, Mrs. Gifty Nerquaye-Tetteh without any reasonable explanation; a conduct or act that adversely affects the dignity and high standing of the legal profession,”

“SAMUEL NERQUAYE-TETTEH shall not hold himself out as a lawyer or attend chambers or render or purport to render any professional legal services to the public. The practicing licence of Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh is hereby withdrawn forthwith,” the notice said.

The notice was signed by the Judicial Secretary, Justice Cynthia Pamela Koranteng.

Writer’s email: emma.hawkson@graphic.com.gh