Interpol issues red notice for Ghana’s ‘fugitive’ ex-minister

Ghana’s former finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta has been placed on Interpol’s red notice list for allegedly using public office for personal gain.

This comes after Ghanaian prosecutors declared him a wanted person as well as a fugitive from justice, as he was outside the country, over his alleged involvement in several corruption cases when he was in government.

A red notice is not an arrest warrant but a request to police worldwide to detain someone pending extradition.

Ofori-Atta, who is said to be out of the country for medical reasons, has not commented on the allegations, but he has said he has been unlawfully treated.

The AFP news agency is quoting Frank Davies, on Ofori-Atta’s legal team, criticising the prosecutor’s approach.

“We submitted medical records in good faith, and the office has chosen to ignore them,” Mr Davies told AFP.

“The special prosecutor is not being sensitive to the issues at hand, especially knowing that Mr Ofori-Atta is unwell and receiving treatment.”

The 65-year-old has been accused of causing financial losses to the state.

The allegations include questions over procurement procedures in the building of a controversial national cathedral, which remains a hole in the ground despite the alleged spending of $58m (£46.6m) of government money.

Ofori-Atta’s lawyers had offered to represent him but the state prosecutor said they could not respond to criminal charges on behalf of their client.

In February, Ofori-Atta appealed to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to remove his name from the wanted list and provided a definite return date in May.

State prosecutor Kissi Agyabeng accepted Ofori-Atta’s assurance and subsequently took his name off the wanted list.

But in March Ofori-Atta filed a lawsuit, claiming unlawful treatment and requesting removal of related content from the OSP’s social media platforms.

Early this month, Ofori-Atta was re-declared a wanted person and a fugitive from justice after failing to appear before an investigative panel.

Agyebeng subsequently formally initiated the Red Notice request, seeking international help in tracking down the former official, local media reported.

“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,” Agyebeng said.

In the Red Notice released on late Thursday, Interpol said Ofori-Atta is wanted on charges of “using public office for profit”.

He was finance minister from January 2017 to February 2024, when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was in power.

The NPP lost last December’s elections to the National Democratic Congress.

President John Mahama, who was inaugurated in January, went on to establish an investigative committee known as Operation Recover All Loot.

The committee has received over 200 complaints of corruption, amounting to more than $20bn in recoverable funds.

Mahama has directed the attorney general and minister of justice to launch investigations into these allegations, stating that Ghana will no longer be a safe haven for corruption.

However, some Ghanaians have criticised him for discontinuing cases against his former allies on trial.