The General Legal Council (GLC) has prohibited Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh, a Chief State Attorney at the Office of the Attorney-General, from the legal profession for obtaining GH¢400,000 from Alfred Agbesi Woyome, a businessman, in 2011.
As a result, Mr. Nerquaye-Tetteh was disbarred and is no longer permitted to practice law in Ghana.
The ruling came about as a result of his being found guilty of professional misconduct under Rule 2(2) of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct and Etiquette) Rules, 1969 (L.I. 613), by the Disciplinary Committee of the GLC, the body that regulates the legal profession.
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 against a lawsuit filed by Woyome in 2011.
According to GLC, Mr. Nerquaye-Tetteh was unable to provide a plausible reason for the GH¢400,000 that Mr. Woyome had sent into his wife’s bank account.
The GLC claimed that Mr. Nerquaye-Tetteh’s actions hurt 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 vs. 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 The practicing license of Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh is hereby withdrawn forthwith,” the notice said.
Justice Cynthia Pamela Koranteng, the Judicial Secretary, signed the notification.
