The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has, for the second time, declared former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta a wanted person, effective today, Monday, June 2, 2025.
This latest action follows Mr. Ofori-Atta’s failure to report in person to the OSP’s headquarters as agreed, breaching a previous arrangement that led to his temporary removal from the wanted list in February.
The OSP had originally declared the former minister a “fugitive from justice” in February 2025 due to his repeated non-compliance with summons related to multiple corruption investigations. These include allegations involving contracts with Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) for revenue assurance, the controversial National Cathedral project, and various financial transactions during his tenure as Finance Minister between 2017 and 2024.
On February 18, 2025, Mr. Ofori-Atta’s legal team negotiated a reprieve, providing a firm assurance that he would appear before the OSP on June 2, 2025. The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, warned at the time that failure to honour this commitment would lead to his immediate re-listing as wanted and trigger the process for issuing an INTERPOL Red Notice to facilitate his arrest and extradition.
As of late Monday, the former minister had not reported to the OSP. Sources within his legal team, including lawyer Frank Davies, disclosed that Ofori-Atta was unable to appear due to a sudden deterioration in his health. Medical documentation was reportedly submitted to both the OSP and the Human Rights Court, alongside a proposal for him to participate in a virtual caution statement, citing the Electronic Transactions Act.
However, the OSP has rejected the excuse, insisting that suspects must appear in person for criminal investigations.
“This office has always requested his attendance, and we have indicated clearly to him that we are unwilling to waive it. If we were amenable to taking any statement from Ken Ofori-Atta in absentia, we would have done so in February, and not waited till June 2, 2025.”
“We want him here physically, and we insist on it. A suspect in a criminal investigation does not pick and choose how the investigative body conducts its investigations and the methods suitable to him and his convenience. We will not countenance this conduct, not in this case,” Kissi Agyebeng said.
The reinstatement of Ofori-Atta on the wanted list opens the door for the OSP to take further legal actions, including seeking an INTERPOL Red Notice. If granted, he could be arrested in any of INTERPOL’s 196 member states, significantly limiting his ability to travel internationally.
Mr. Ofori-Atta is currently pursuing a legal challenge in the Human Rights Court against the OSP’s initial declaration of him as wanted. The court is set to rule on that matter on June 18, 2025.
By: Ekow Annan/newsalertgh.com
