The Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of turning the legal issues involving former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta into a political matter and linking it to NPP as a whole.
According to him, attempts to prosecute Mr. Ofori-Atta are being presented in a way that unfairly associates the case with the NPP instead of treating it as the legal responsibility of an individual.
His comments come at a time of growing public discussion over efforts by Ghanaian authorities to extradite the former Finance Minister to face corruption-related allegations. The debate has also intensified following reports about his acquisition of a United States Green Card after earlier immigration-related developments.
The issue has further drawn comparisons with the extradition and conviction of former MASLOC Chief Executive, Sedina Attionu-Tamakloe.
Mr. Ahiagbah argued that the state already possesses enough legal mechanisms to continue with prosecution if it believes there is a case to answer.
He pointed specifically to Article 19 of the Constitution and stated that Ghana’s laws permit a trial in absentia under certain circumstances.
According to him, authorities can rely on existing legal procedures such as serving documents through lawyers, using known residential addresses, publishing notices in newspapers and issuing court notifications.
He maintained that difficulties in personally serving the accused should not become a barrier to pursuing the case.
Mr. Ahiagbah also referred to extradition arrangements between Ghana and the United States, arguing that previous cases show such legal channels can be activated when necessary.
In his view, the current obstacles being highlighted in the matter are political rather than legal.
He insisted that the issue should not be turned into a party matter and argued that Mr. Ofori-Atta should be treated solely as a private citizen facing a legal process.
“And so every other thing which is preventing the state from doing it is purely political, designed to link the NPP to Ken Ofori-Atta and make it an NPP problem, rather than the Ken problem. Ken is an individual citizen, he’s a private citizen, and so therefore they need to pursue him; they should pursue him.”
Mr. Ahiagbah concluded that if the state believes there is sufficient evidence against the former minister, it should proceed through the available legal channels instead of framing the issue through a partisan political lens.
