Interpol issues red notice for Ghana's fugitive ex-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.
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.
The 65-year-old has been accused of causing financial losses to the state.
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.
Ofori-Atta's lawyers had offered to represent him but the state prosecutor said they could not respond to criminal charges on behalf of their client.
Reporter who sued MP and won $18m hopeful he will pocket the 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".
He was finance minister from January 2017 to February 2024, when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was in power.
The NPP lost last December's elections to the National Democratic Congress.
President John Mahama, who was inaugurated in January, went on to establish an investigative committee known as Operation Recover All Loot.
The committee has received over 200 complaints of corruption, amounting to more than $20bn in recoverable funds.
Mahama has directed the attorney general and minister of justice to launch investigations into these allegations, stating that Ghana will no longer be a safe haven for corruption.
However, some Ghanaians have criticised him for discontinuing cases against his former allies on trial.
Can Ghana's new president meet the voters' high expectations?
The Maths Queen with a quantum mission to mentor girls
Why some Ghanaians are fighting in insurgency-hit Burkina Faso
Ghana wants more for its cashews, but it's a tough nut to crack
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Focus on Africa
This Is Africa
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Interpol issues red notice for Ghana's ex-finance minister over corruption claims
ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Global police organization Interpol placed Ghana 's former finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta on its red notice list on Friday for allegedly using public office for personal gain. The notice follows a request from the West African country's prosecutors who have declared Ofori-Atta a 'fugitive' after he failed to appear before an investigative panel this month citing medical reasons. The former minister's lawyers said they submitted medical records to the court showing he is receiving treatment abroad. His exact location remains unclear. Ofori-Atta's lawyer, Frank Davies, told The Associated Press that the declaration of his client as a 'fugitive' is 'very condescending" and 'an unfettered infringement of Ofori-Atta's rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement.' Davies said the former minister had informed the authorities of his intention to travel outside the country for medical attention since February. An Interpol red notice — while not an arrest warrant — alerts law enforcement agencies to locate and detain Ofori-Atta pending extradition. Ofori-Atta, who served as finance minister from 2017 to 2024 for the New Patriotic Party, is accused of having been involved in several corruption cases, including the misuse of $58 million of public funds for a national cathedral project that never materialized. Last December, the NPP's candidate Mahamudu Bawumia lost the the presidential election to the National Democratic Congress nominee John Mahama. Since taking office in January, Mahama has launched an anti-corruption campaign aimed at recovering $20 billion in alleged stolen state funds. Critics, however, say the effort has spared allies of his administration. Ofori-Atta has not commented on the accusations, but has said in the past he was unlawfully treated by the prosecution. In March, he filed a lawsuit against the office of the special prosecutor, requesting the removal of 'damaging' content from the office's social media platforms.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Albania v Serbia World Cup qualifier stirs memories of chaotic 2014 clash
Outside a cafe three blocks from Arena Kombetare, two men stood on chairs and fastened attachments to the awning. Thursday lunchtime had just passed and Tirana was gearing up for a match that could have filled the national stadium at least 10 times over. There was no trouble identifying Albania's flag, the double-headed black eagle spreading from its centre. The second banner being hoisted has become common currency too. It bore the word 'Autochtonous', presenting a version of the 'Greater Albania' map that transformed a football match into a major diplomatic incident in 2014. By Friday morning that flag had been replaced with its less incendiary alternative. Perhaps the authorities had popped in for a quiet word. They want to eliminate potential triggers for the kind of chaos that erupted in Belgrade 11 years ago, when a drone lowered the controversial image into Partizan Stadium during a European Championship qualifier between Serbia and Albania. The ramifications of that night stretched far beyond sport and there were sighs of relief when, the following November, a rematch in the provincial Albanian city of Elbasan passed without major incident. Advertisement Faces surely plunged into palms at both countries' football associations last December, though, when they were drawn together in World Cup qualifying for 2026. Eyebrows were raised externally but there was nothing to prevent them meeting again: despite a long and bloody history whose freshest scars were inflicted during the war in largely ethnic Albanian Kosovo, the nations are not in active conflict. Neither had asked to be kept apart from the other. It was inevitable that the problem of navigating their relations around the football stadium would resurface one day. No resources are being spared in solving it. About 2,000 police personnel will be deployed for the sides' first Group K meeting on Saturday night, including special forces and counter-terrorism operatives. Additionally, sources suggest as many as 500 plainclothes officers will be situated among the 22,500 crowd. Away fans will be absent. Anti-drone equipment is being installed in the surrounding area and potential miscreants have been warned their devices will be shot out of the sky. Presumably any planned disruption would take a different form; drones were not quite commonplace in public life when that tiny craft unleashed hell in Belgrade. But those measures revive memories of Ismail Morina, the bearded and outwardly harmless crane operator whose willingness to admit responsibility for the 2014 incident brought national hero status. Although not widely reported at the time, Morina had an accomplice who has since preferred to remain in the shadows. Morina's openness came at a cost: he was arrested before Serbia's visit in 2015 for illegal possession of weapons, keeping him safely out of view for the game. Later he was imprisoned in Croatia and Italy, where he has residency, on a Serbian arrest warrant issued through Interpol. He has returned to Albanian stadiums, being held aloft in the Arena Kombetare stands at a match against Czech Republic in 2023 and exchanging shirts with the goalscorer Jasir Asani. Recently he has been seen at domestic games but, in the buildup to Saturday's meeting, his previously active social media accounts have disappeared. If any of his old associates know where he is, they will not say. The assumption must be that he would not risk approaching the venue on Saturday. Advertisement He would not be the only ultra, past or present, who is kept away. The Albanian FA has not sold tickets en bloc to supporters' groups, instead allocating them by random draw from more than 200,000 applications and hiking up prices. It appears a deliberate attempt to sanitise the atmosphere; the Tifozat Kuq e Zi group, which provides the most vibrant spectacle at national team games, responded furiously and pointed to an 'organised farce' aimed at the wealthy. They will host an alternative gathering by the Pyramid of Tirana, 400 metres from the stadium, where permission has been granted for a big screen. Match ticket prices on an intensely active black market have exceeded £1,000 at the top end. The fact Albania and Serbia will co-host the Uefa Under-21 Championship in 2027 adds another dimension. If the stakes are high for Saturday's hosts, there is plenty riding on the occasion for European football's governing body. Such an ambitious arrangement, driven largely by the Albania FA president and Uefa executive committee vice-president, Armand Duka, may appear untenable if anything goes wrong. Tifozat Kuq e Zi has expressed its views on the co-hosting by verbal and visual means; it senses this has contributed to its ostracisation. The only distraction during Albania's training session on Thursday evening was a set of zealously deployed sprinklers, their presence hardly unwelcome in temperatures touching 30C. Elseid Hysaj, the Lazio full-back, is the only squad member who played in the Belgrade fiasco. 'We should not repeat the images of past years,' he said. 'The coach has asked us not to panic about this match. We need calm and emotional balance.' Sylvinho, the manager in question and one of international football's more affable characters, joked while playing keepy-uppy with his staff but is under pressure to deliver. The same can be said of Dragan Stojkovic, his opposite number. England, who complete the Group K quintet with Latvia and Andorra, are deemed near-certain group winners by both camps. Albania and Serbia know they are jostling for a playoff spot and that their meetings, the second of which takes place in four months, will be decisive. At 1.40pm local time on Friday, Serbia's players arrived at their hotel a mile to the west of Tirana's city centre. Armed officers from RENEA, Albania's anti-terrorism force, flanked two buses that had travelled from the airport under escort. The first step of a weekend-long operation had passed smoothly. Should that remain the case, perhaps the spectre of 14 October 2014 will finally begin to fade from view.
Hamilton Spectator
11 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Interpol issues red notice for Ghana's ex-finance minister over corruption claims
ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Global police organization Interpol placed Ghana 's former finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta on its red notice list on Friday for allegedly using public office for personal gain. The notice follows a request from the West African country's prosecutors who have declared Ofori-Atta a 'fugitive' after he failed to appear before an investigative panel this month citing medical reasons. The former minister's lawyers said they submitted medical records to the court showing he is receiving treatment abroad. His exact location remains unclear. Ofori-Atta's lawyer, Frank Davies, told The Associated Press that the declaration of his client as a 'fugitive' is 'very condescending' and 'an unfettered infringement of Ofori-Atta's rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement.' Davies said the former minister had informed the authorities of his intention to travel outside the country for medical attention since February. An Interpol red notice — while not an arrest warrant — alerts law enforcement agencies to locate and detain Ofori-Atta pending extradition. Ofori-Atta, who served as finance minister from 2017 to 2024 for the New Patriotic Party , is accused of having been involved in several corruption cases, including the misuse of $58 million of public funds for a national cathedral project that never materialized. Last December, the NPP's candidate Mahamudu Bawumia lost the the presidential election to the National Democratic Congress nominee John Mahama. Since taking office in January, Mahama has launched an anti-corruption campaign aimed at recovering $20 billion in alleged stolen state funds. Critics, however, say the effort has spared allies of his administration. Ofori-Atta has not commented on the accusations, but has said in the past he was unlawfully treated by the prosecution. In March, he filed a lawsuit against the office of the special prosecutor, requesting the removal of 'damaging' content from the office's social media platforms. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
