By Abiola Olawale
Ghana’s Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has declared a former Minister of Finance of the country, Ken Ofori-Atta, a fugitive from justice.
This comes as Ofori-Atta, who served as finance minister from January 2017 to February 2024 under former Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration, found himself at the centre of a storm involving allegations of inappropriate deals, financial mismanagement and corruption tied to several high-profile projects and contracts.
The OSP, led by Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng, announced Ofori-Atta’s fugitive status during a press conference in Accra.
Agyebeng stated that the former minister has allegedly failed to honour invitations for questioning despite being informed he was a suspect in multiple corruption investigations.
He also accused the former minister of reportedly leaving Ghana in early January 2025, unannounced.
The New Diplomat reports that the allegations against Ofori-Atta centre on several high-profile cases of alleged inappropriate acts, corruption and financial loss, including a National Cathedral Project.
This ambitious initiative, championed by former President Akufo-Addo as a tribute to God following his 2016 election victory, has been mired in controversy. Despite being initially framed as a privately funded project, public funds, allegedly amounting to a staggering $58 million, were reportedly spent on it, yet the site remains an unfinished project in central Accra.
The OSP is also probing a contract between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and SML, a company tasked with revenue assurance in the petroleum and minerals sectors, respectively.
According to reports, the GRA purportedly paid SML over $83 million without proper approval from the Public Procurement Authority.
It was also gathered that the OSP is examining the abrupt cancellation of a multi-million-dollar contract between the ECG and Beijing Xiaocheng Technology (BXC), a Chinese firm hired to modernize Ghana’s power distribution network.
