Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Justice Srem-Sai, has disclosed that his office is yet to receive a docket from the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) regarding the extradition of the former Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to him, the Attorney General’s office has made several written requests to the OSP over the past two (2) months, seeking the necessary documents to enable the submission of an extradition request to authorities in the United States of America (USA).
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Speaking in an interview on GHOne TV, Mr Srem-Sai explained:
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We are the only authority that can make extradition requests. But we need a docket, an investigative docket from the OSP, to be able to initiate this process. As of today, we still do not have a docket from the OSP. We have made several requests to the OSP, written letters and formal demands, asking that now that they have announced to the world that they are ready for this person to be extradited, and even indicated that the docket is ready, they should forward it to us since it is only the Attorney General who can make the extradition.
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He further stated:
So we have been asking for the docket for about two months now, but we still do not have it from the OSP. Without the docket, you cannot approach the American authorities and say, ‘this is the person we want.’ We need to present a full case file. When the United States requests extradition from Ghana, they send a complete docket as though they are going to court, and we then present that to the court to determine if there is merit. We must do the same. We need to present all the evidence and legal basis before the US authorities can process the extradition.
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Meanwhile, the lawyer for Mr Ofori-Atta, Frank Davies, in an interview with Joy News, dismissed claims that his client is on the run.
According to him, the former Minister is “doing well” and has made himself available through legitimate legal channels. He stressed that Mr Ofori-Atta is not in hiding and continues to rely on his faith as the legal processes unfold.
Background
The former Finance Minister has officially been placed on Interpol’s Red Notice list.
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This move was initiated by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) following Mr Ofori-Atta’s failure to return to Ghana for questioning in connection with investigations into questionable transactions during his tenure.
Mr Ofori-Atta is under investigation for allegedly causing financial loss to the state through five major transactions. These include the National Cathedral project, the GRA-SML contract, the termination of the ECG–Beijing Xiao Cheng Technology (BXC) agreement, the ambulance spare parts contract, and payments from the GRA’s Tax Refund Account.
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At a press conference held on Monday, 2 June, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng confirmed that his office had initiated the Interpol Red Notice process and requested Mr Ofori-Atta’s extradition from the United States.
