The Supreme Court has decided that Nii Amanoo Dodoo, the former uniBank receiver, may testify in the criminal trial of Dr. Kwabena Duffour, the bank's founder, and other officials.

The first witness called by the State was Mr. Dodoo, but Dr. Duffour's attorneys pleaded with the judge to prevent him from testifying.

They claimed that several provisions of the 2016 Banks and Specialized Deposit Act had been broken by the Receiver.

His appointment as Receiver of UniBank followed his time as a partner at KPMG, which audited the bank's financial records, according to the lawyers' explanation.

But the State opposed the objection. The Director of Public Prosecution, Yvonne Attakora Obuobisa admitted that Mr Dodoo was previously a partner of KPMG.

She, however, argued that his appointment as the Receiver was lawful. She urged the court to dismiss the objection since the witness meets the requirement for qualifying to testify.

Court of Appeal Judge, Bright Mensah, who is hearing the matter as an additional High Court judge dismissed the objection and upheld the Director of Public Prosecution’s arguments.

He stated that Section 59 of the Evidence Act explains who is not qualified to testify. This includes someone who is incapable of coherent expression so as to be understood, directly or through interpretation by another person who can understand that person; or incapable of understanding the duty of a witness, to tell the truth.

The Receiver was therefore asked to take the oath and proceed to testify. Dissatisfied with this decision, Dr Duffuor and the officials took the matter to the Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal affirmed the High Court decision leading to a further appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Apex Court on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, affirmed the Court of Appeal's decision by a majority 3-2 decision. Justices Paul Baffoe Bonnie, Prof Mensah Bonsu and Samuel Asiedu made up the majority while Justices Gabriel Pwamang and Amadu Tanko dissented.

Dr Kwabena Duffour and eight others are facing a total of 71 charges for various roles they played that led to the collapse of some financial institutions.