Ablakwa, Gbande, Gyamfi: NDC officials who forewarned Ken Ofori-Atta's prosecution
L-R: Okudzeto Ablakwa, Isaac Adongo, Sammy Gyamfi, and Mustapha Gbande
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has declared the former Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, as wanted and a fugitive, due to his involvement in corruption-related activities concerning the SML, National Cathedral, and other projects during his tenure.
The OSP's declaration, which many Ghanaians had anticipated even under the former government, has not come as a shock to many.
This is because several key officials of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), during their time in opposition, had promised to prosecute Ken Ofori-Atta in the event of a future NDC government.
These personalities spoke with such certainty, as if they could foretell the future or had a premonition of the day of reckoning for Ofori-Atta.
On the back of the OSP’s declaration of Ken Ofori-Atta, as wanted, GhanaWeb takes a look at NDC officials who predicted such an occurrence happening.
The National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) did not hold back during an interview on Metro TV in 2023, confidently assuring Ghanaians that Ofori-Atta would be jailed.
He described Ofori-Atta as a "walking jailbird" who must face the law for "breaching the Bank of Ghana Act and the Public Financial Management Act with such impunity.
“You see Addison, Ofori-Atta, they’re jailbirds walking free. They’re jail-bound because for the life of me, I don’t see how these people can escape the full rigors of the law under the next NDC government,” he said.
In 2020, the Bolgatanga Central MP, Isaac Adongo, also called for the arrest of finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta for using GH¢15.6 billion of taxpayers' money to collapse nine local banks.
He argued that the banks would not have collapsed if Ofori-Atta had paid contractors who had borrowed loans from the now-defunct banks, enabling them to remain operational.
Adongo questioned why Ofori-Atta refused to settle the GH¢5.7 billion owed to the banks, yet allocated GH¢15.6 billion to facilitate their collapse.
“If President Akufo-Addo wants to penalise managers behind the collapse of the banks, then he should have first arrested his cousin Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister. The banks wouldn’t have collapsed if the finance minister and the government had settled the debts of contractors who were also the main debtors of the collapsed banks. The president should be bold and arrest Ken Ofori-Atta before he makes any move to prosecute the accused bank managers,” Adongo said.
Mustapha Gbande
The Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Foyo Gbande, revealed in 2024 that former finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta, along with 58 other ministers under investigation, will be prosecuted and potentially jailed when the NDC comes to power in 2025.
Speaking on Onua FM, he stated that these individuals, including Ofori-Atta, were responsible for causing the country's economic crisis.
"We have investigated 58 government appointees who have stolen huge sums of money belonging to the state. They can burn the ministries; they can burn documents; we have the docket already. We have investigated them," he hinted, while claiming that some of these appointees stole and kept the money in their houses with their girlfriends.
He added "We will jail Ken Ofori Atta even if he dies. If John Mahama doesn't jail Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghanaians will rise against him. Ken and 58 others will be prosecuted. They have stolen the money, and Nana Addo has supervised him."
The North Tongu lawmaker, in 2022, described Ken Ofori-Atta as a candidate for jail during an appearance on Metro TV, in relation to the Databank/Eurobond issues.
He expressed strong disgust and opposition to the conflict of interest surrounding Ghana's borrowing through domestic and Eurobonds between 2018 and 2021.
Databank, co-founded by Ofori-Atta, was said to have earned a total amount of $9.2 million from that deal.
“We have never seen this level of corruption and blatant conflict of interest, open stealing and thievery. There is no way President Mahama would have allowed a finance minister to have his company engage in this unethical, immoral, stinking, despicable conflict of interest of the highest order.
"The last time we asked the finance minister to come to declare how much his companies have benefitted from Eurobonds alone, he told us in Parliament GH¢151 million, the Hansard is there. Nasty conflict of interest. Many people and I agree with the popular view that we should not only be talking about the removal of the finance minister but also his prosecution. He is a candidate for jail, let’s be honest,” he indicated.
MAG/AE
You can also watch what an NPP MP said after OSP’s declaration of Ofori-Atta wanted below:
