By: Deborah Amewoyi
Former Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori – Atta upon failure to return to Ghana in order to assist with investigations at the Office of the Special prosecutor during his tenure as finance minister has been listed on INTERPOL’s Red Notice list.
Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng in an official address on June 2 indicated that the OSP has initiated a Red Notice request to INTERPOL in order to locate and track down the former minister.
Ken Ofori Atta is expected to return to Ghana to answer questions regarding a charge with strategic mobilization with a GRA Contract, the termination of ECG-BXC contract, some payments during the National Cathedral project, Ambulance procurement contract and a tax refund account utilization.
Despite calls from the OSP, the former finance minister has failed to honour the request to present himself for interrogation citing medical reasons. Per the records available, Mr. Ken Ofori Atta has been declared wanted by the Office of the Special Prosecutor on two different occasions.
In January, 2025 Ken Ofori Atta was amongst the list of suspects announced by the OSP to assist with anti – corruption investigations, and was declared a fugitive from Justice for the first time on February, 12, 2025.
However after lawyers of the former minister consulted with the OSP, it was agreed that, Ken Ofori Atta will return to Ghana in May, by this said date, he has completed his surgical operation that took him to the United States.
Then on May, 28 the OSP was served with a notice of the former finance minister’s inability to return to the country to assist with the investigations due to a new surgical date scheduled for June 13, 2025. The OSP made it clear that legal representatives of the former minister did not provide any documentation indicating that the former finance minister is “incapacitated ” and would be unable to return to Ghana for probing.
Significantly, the legal representatives of Ken Ofori Atta opted for a virtual session of the probing which the OSP rejected on the basis that the calibre of matter being probed required “physical presence” rather than “delay tactics.”
On June 2, the OSP re- declared Ken Ofori Atta a wanted person and issued an INTERPOL Red Notice against him for international cooperation and requested for his extradition. On Friday, June 5, INTERPOL officially added him to the list of “WANTED” persons in the States.
The notice which described him as a 65 year old man who is 1.7 meters tall with black eye and hair color was charged with using public office for profit and must be reported to any National or local police when sighted.
