Technology
OSP Denies Stalling Ofori Atta Extradition Amid Attorney General Criticism
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has dismissed allegations that it has failed to cooperate with the Attorney General’s office regarding the extradition of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta from the United States, describing such claims as misleading and factually inaccurate. The clarification, issued Monday in a detailed statement, comes after Deputy Attorney General Dr. Justice Srem Sai publicly complained that his office has sent multiple requests for the investigation docket but received no response over the past two months.
According to the OSP, it has been actively exchanging correspondence with the Attorney General’s office since early June and has already completed critical steps in the extradition process, including securing a judicial warrant, declaring Ofori Atta a fugitive, and successfully placing him on Interpol’s Red Notice. The statement provided a timeline showing that on June 2, the OSP triggered the formal extradition process by submitting a request to the Chief of Staff at the Presidency for the provisional apprehension of the former minister.
The following day, June 3, the Chief of Staff transmitted the OSP’s request to the Attorney General, who acts as the Central Authority for mutual legal assistance requests under Ghana’s legal framework. On June 13, the Attorney General acknowledged receipt of the extradition package and requested the inclusion of two OSP officers on the prosecution team, along with a copy of the docket.
The OSP responded on June 20 by nominating two officers and explaining that compilation of the docket was still ongoing following a search and seizure operation at two offices of Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited on June 10, which yielded what the office described as a haul of new evidence. “In respect of the request for a copy of the docket, the Special Prosecutor informed the Attorney General that the OSP was in the process of compiling the various dockets on the subject,” the statement clarified.
Dr. Srem Sai, however, painted a different picture during an interview with GHOne TV on Monday. He said the Attorney General’s office has made several formal requests for the documents but has not received any response. “It’s been about two months now, and we still do not have the dockets from the OSP,” he stated. He explained that although the OSP has placed Ofori Atta on an Interpol red alert, the legal process to bring him back from the United States cannot move forward without the complete docket.
The Deputy Attorney General stressed that extradition requests must include full evidence files and legal justifications, similar to what the United States submits when requesting extraditions from Ghana. “When they ask for people to be extradited, they bring the full docket as if they are going to court. We must do the same,” he said.
Sammy Darko, Director of Strategy, Research, and Communication at the OSP, sought to defuse tensions in a Facebook post Monday, insisting there is no bad blood between the two institutions. He characterized the issue as primarily one of timing, noting that the OSP is nearing completion of its work on several cases involving Ofori Atta and will, in due course, submit the necessary information required to complete the extradition process to the Attorney General.
“There is no bad blood between the OSP and the AG, nor is there any contention over the case docket,” Darko wrote. “The OSP is finalising the investigative report and will soon transmit it to the AG. Therefore, between September and October, there has been a brief gap, one the OSP is currently working to fill by completing and transmitting the final investigative report to the Attorney General. That is not a delay or unwillingness; it is finishing the work.”
The OSP statement also addressed what it described as security concerns arising from a recent leak of highly sensitive communications that pose grave risks to ongoing investigations and the safety of OSP personnel. Darko condemned the leak, stating, “Certainly, the leak could not have originated from the OSP. The Office would never compromise the safety of its officers or jeopardise a case it has pursued diligently since February.”
The former Finance Minister was identified by the OSP in January 2025 as a suspect in several corruption related cases, including alleged irregularities in contracts with Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited, expenditures linked to the National Cathedral project, and issues in health and tax refund operations. He was first declared a fugitive from justice in February 2025 after failing to honor repeated summonses by the OSP.
Ofori Atta’s lawyers later requested that his name be removed from the wanted list, promising he would return. However, in June 2025, after he again failed to appear before the OSP on the agreed date, his fugitive status was reinstated. The OSP indicated it would pursue extradition steps and maintain the Interpol Red Notice.
Intelligence gathered by the office showed that Ofori Atta has been residing in the United States since January 2025. By the end of May 2025, the office obtained a judicial warrant for his arrest and declared him a fugitive from justice, subsequently placing him on its List of Wanted Persons. “The Office has since successfully defended several applications filed by Mr. Ofori Atta in Ghanaian courts, in attempts to have his name removed from the List of Wanted Persons,” the OSP stated.
Ten months after being first declared a fugitive, Ofori Atta has neither been arrested in the United States nor voluntarily returned to Ghana. His continued absence has become a source of frustration for authorities and raised questions about the effectiveness of Ghana’s mechanisms for pursuing high profile corruption suspects who flee the jurisdiction.
The public disagreement between the OSP and the Attorney General’s office has also sparked debate about coordination between state institutions in handling sensitive cases. While Darko insists the two offices are working cooperatively, the Deputy Attorney General’s public comments suggest growing impatience with the pace of progress.
Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has called on the OSP to initiate a trial in absentia if Ofori Atta fails to return to Ghana, arguing that the OSP has the mandate to act once all preliminary steps are completed. However, Darko rejected this approach, stating it would not align with legal procedure.
The OSP has assured that investigations remain very active and that the Special Prosecutor will brief the public on concluded investigations and their outcomes before the end of October 2025. For now, the former Finance Minister remains at large in the United States while Ghana’s law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies work, with varying degrees of public harmony, to bring him back to face justice.
The case highlights the complexities of international extradition processes and the challenges facing Ghana’s anti corruption efforts when suspects have the means to flee the jurisdiction. It also underscores the importance of seamless coordination between the OSP and the Attorney General’s office, particularly in high profile cases that attract intense public scrutiny.
