The Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), Ing. Kwadwo Twum Boafo, has urged former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta—who is reportedly in self-imposed exile—to return to Ghana and face ongoing judicial proceedings.
Speaking in an interview on Accra-based GHOne TV, Ing. Boafo appealed to Mr. Ofori-Atta to voluntarily come back and cooperate with the authorities, stressing that the current investigation by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) is not without precedent.
He recalled that during the Mills and Mahama administrations, several public officials were also subjected to similar investigations.
According to the FIC boss, Mr. Ofori-Atta owes the nation an account of his stewardship after serving as Finance Minister for seven years. “He (Ken Ofori-Atta) has a lot of cases to answer on how he steered this economy. People will want to know, and I would have wished that he came back willingly to answer the questions,” he said.
Drawing a comparison to former Finance Minister Seth Terkper, Ing. Boafo noted, “Those same questions were posed to Seth Terkper, and he didn’t run. Seth Terkper was here; he didn’t run.”
He also urged Ghanaians to remain patient as the OSP and the Attorney General’s Department work through the legal processes required to have Mr. Ofori-Atta extradited.
Citing his experience with similar cases, Ing. Boafo explained that extradition between Ghana and the United States can be lengthy.
“The OSP is working with the Attorney General’s Department to make sure they have a case that they can present to the US authorities. That is not easy because even though we have a mutual legal agreement with the US, the process drags. In the case of the money launderers that they took to the US, it took six years. They had to come and present a case to our judges here,” he stated.
He emphasized that Ghanaian judges are meticulous when handling such requests.
“Our judges, rightly so, will scrutinize extradition requests to the tee because no country is happy to extradite its citizens without putting a fine-tooth comb through the evidence. There are several layers through which that request goes, and at the end of the day, a judge must determine if that must happen,” he added.
Mr. Ofori-Atta was declared by the OSP in January 2025 as a suspect in several corruption-related cases, including alleged irregularities involving Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML), financial transactions tied to the National Cathedral project, and other fiscal operations within the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Revenue Authority.
He was first declared a fugitive in February 2025 after failing to respond to repeated summons from the OSP.
Although his legal team later assured authorities that he would return to Ghana, the former minister missed the agreed appearance date in June 2025, leading to the reinstatement of his fugitive status.
The OSP has since indicated that it will proceed with extradition processes, including an Interpol Red Notice, to ensure that Mr. Ofori-Atta faces justice in Ghana.
Source: Adomonline.com
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