Interpol Issues Red Notice For Ghana’s ‘Fugitive’ Ex-Finance 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. The 65-year-old has been accused of causing financial losses to the state. He was finance minister from January 2017 to February 2024, when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was in power.

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.

“We submitted medical records in good faith, and the office has chosen to ignore them,” Mr. Davies criticized the prosecution’s approach.

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

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.

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”.