The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has clarified that he personally funded the purchase of six heavy-duty printers for the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).

His clarification follows concerns raised by members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), who questioned whether EOCO had received grants or donations from unapproved sources.

Appearing before the committee, Dr. Ayine explained that EOCO does not accept financial support or donations from private individuals or institutions, stating that his contribution was a personal gesture intended to enhance the agency’s efficiency and does not constitute a conflict of interest.

“EOCO does not receive such donations from private persons because of issues of conflict of interest. When I assumed office in February, one of the things they briefed me on was that they did not have printers,” he said.

He further explained that after exploring various funding options without success, he decided to purchase the printers using his own resources.

“We looked everywhere and couldn’t find money to buy the printers, so I bought six heavy-duty printers for them out of my own funds. There is no conflict in this because I wanted the entity to work efficiently,” Dr. Ayine added.

The clarification came in response to a question from the Member of Parliament for Kpando, Sebastian Deh, who had sought to determine whether it was ethically appropriate for EOCO to receive in-kind grants, given the sensitive nature of its work.

Dr. Ayine reaffirmed that EOCO remains a public institution funded solely through approved government channels, and his donation was purely to support the operational needs of the office.