The Minority Caucus in Parliament has called on President John Dramani Mahama to immediately dismiss Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, over what it describes as the unlawful disbursement of GH¢350 million approved for flood relief, alleging that the transaction may have breached both a court order and the public finance laws.

The latest development stems from Parliament’s approval for the government to withdraw GH¢350 million from the Contingency Fund to provide emergency relief and undertake flood mitigation measures following the devastating floods that affected several communities across the country.

However, the Minority argues that the Contingency Fund had already become the subject of ongoing garnishee proceedings and was under court attachment at the time the Ministry of Finance announced the release of the funds.

Addressing a press conference in Parliament, Deputy Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Asokwa, Patricia Appiagyei, questioned the legality of the transaction, insisting that the government’s own explanation had raised more questions than answers.

She argued that if the Contingency Fund was indeed under attachment and could not legally be accessed, then there were only two possible scenarios: either the Bank of Ghana allowed a withdrawal in defiance of an existing court order, or the government sourced the GH¢350 million from another public account without first obtaining parliamentary approval.

“The unavoidable question therefore is: how did the money move?” she asked, maintaining that one conclusion appeared difficult to avoid.

According to her, if the approved fund remained under legal attachment, then the emergency disbursement could only have been executed through a different public account.

The Minority further questioned why Parliament was not informed if an alternative funding source had been used.

Patricia Appiagyei maintained that once the approved source of funding became legally unavailable, the Executive had a constitutional obligation to return to Parliament to seek fresh approval before withdrawing money from any other public fund.

She contended that bypassing Parliament in such circumstances would amount to a direct violation of constitutional provisions governing withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund and other public accounts, as well as the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), which criminalises unauthorised withdrawals of public funds.

The caucus also accused the Ministry of Finance of issuing a misleading public statement after announcing that the GH¢350 million had been released from the Contingency Fund.

According to the Minority, if investigations eventually establish that the money originated from another account, then Parliament’s approval would have been rendered meaningless because the transaction executed would not have been the one approved by the House.

The Minority placed direct responsibility on Attorney General Dr. Dominic Ayine, arguing that he failed to discharge his constitutional responsibilities under Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution as the government’s principal legal adviser and the officer responsible for all civil proceedings involving the state.

Patricia Appiagyei argued that Dr. Ayine ought to have acted immediately when the Contingency Fund became the subject of court proceedings.

She questioned why no attempt appeared to have been made to challenge or discharge the garnishee order before government proceeded with the disbursement.

She further alleged that the Attorney General failed to provide lawful legal advice at a critical moment, insisting that his conduct amounted to a failure of constitutional duty.

On the strength of these allegations, the Minority demanded that Dr. Ayine resign immediately. Failing that, the caucus called on President Mahama to remove him from office, arguing that the President has a constitutional obligation to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.

Beyond demanding the Attorney General’s removal, the Minority is also calling for a full parliamentary inquiry into the transaction. It wants both the Attorney General and the Minister for Finance to appear before Parliament with all relevant documentation relating to the case, including the garnishee order, court records, the Attorney General’s letter dated July 1, 2026, and all correspondence exchanged between the Attorney General’s Department, the Ministry of Finance, the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department and the Bank of Ghana regarding the attachment and subsequent withdrawal.

The caucus has also called on the Governor of the Bank of Ghana to publicly disclose whether the central bank complied with or rejected the Attorney General’s directives and to identify the exact public account from which the GH¢350 million was eventually released.

In addition, the Minority is demanding that the Auditor-General immediately undertake a special audit tracing the entire flood relief disbursement from its source to its final destination and submit the findings to Parliament.

The caucus warned that should government fail to provide what it described as honest and complete answers, it would pursue every available parliamentary and legal avenue to establish accountability over the controversial flood relief transaction.

The dispute over the GH¢350 million flood relief fund marks another escalation in the growing political confrontation between the Minority and the Mahama administration over issues of public financial management, accountability and constitutional governance.

In recent weeks, the Minority has repeatedly accused the government of bypassing due process in the management of public funds, while government has maintained that its actions have been guided by the need to respond swiftly to national emergencies.