Former Member of Parliament of Mion, Mohammed Aziz has said the investigations by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) against former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is not a “political persecution” by the NDC government.
According to him, the case is being handled by the OSP who was appointed under the erstwhile Akufo-Addo administration; hence it cannot be that the NDC government is going after former state officials.
In an interview on TV3’s New Day, Mohammed Aziz that the OSP is only performing its mandate as Ken Ofori-Atta has been alleged to be involved in many corruption-related activities.
“In any case this cannot be seen as a political persecution. After all, it is not the Attorney-General or any NDC officer who has declared him fugitive. This OSP was appointed by the same Akufo-Addo and so this has nothing to do with the NDC and our government.
We think that Ken Ofori-Atta has committed a lot of offenses that leads to corruption,” he said on Wednesday, February 19, 2025.
He added: “For us to pursue this case thoroughly and speedily, the office of the Attorney-General must be involved.”
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) on Tuesday, February 18, 2025 said former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is no longer on its wanted list.
On 12 February 2025, the Special Prosecutor declared Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta, a wanted person and a fugitive from justice on the grounds that he had failed to indicate a reasonable time of his return to the jurisdiction – although he had been informed by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) that he was a suspect in various suspected corruption and corruption-related cases and he had been directed to physically attend the OSP in Accra on a specified date and at a specified time for interviewing.
On 18 February 2025, Mr. Ofori-Atta transmitted a communication through his lawyers to the OSP by which he stated a definite date of his voluntary return to the jurisdiction.
This marks a major shift from Mr. Ofori-Atta’s previous intention of remaining outside the jurisdiction indefinitely.
The OSP acceded to Mr. Ofori-Atta’s request as it deemed his stated date of voluntary return to the jurisdiction reasonable in the circumstances.
“Consequently, Mr. Ofori-Atta has been removed from the OSP’s list of wanted persons and the OSP ceases to consider Mr. Ofori-Atta a fugitive from justice pending his voluntary return to the jurisdiction circa his stated date.
“If Mr. Ofori-Atta fails to voluntarily return to the jurisdiction circa his stated date, and if Mr. Ofori-Atta fails to attend the OSP on the rescheduled date, he shall be re-entered on the OSP’s list of wanted persons and the OSP shall then consider him a fugitive from justice, and the OSP shall take all necessary legal steps to secure his return to the jurisdiction and attendance at the OSP at our own choosing,” OSP noted in a statement.
Use of ‘fugitive’ was too strong; OSP should have exhausted all avenues – Dr. Afriyie.
