Ofori-Atta's Green Card Scandal Rocks Ghana: Politicians Demand Answers and Return

JoyNews’ flagship current affairs programme, Newsfile, recently convened a formidable panel for a four-hour live broadcast on Saturday, June 20, hosted by Samson Lardy Anyenini. The extensive program navigated a complex agenda encompassing institutional stability, recent public sector resignations, student safety and discipline, and critically, the high-profile legal saga involving former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, particularly in light of his reported acquisition of permanent residency in the United States. The panel included distinguished individuals such as Kwaku Ansa-Asare, Dean of the Faculty of Laws at Mountcrest University College; Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, Former Deputy Attorney-General; Dr. Clement Abas Apaak, MP for Builsa South and Deputy Minister for Education; Gloria Ofori-Boadu, Managing Legal Practitioner at GOB Law Consult; and Kofi Bentil, Lawyer and Senior Vice President of IMANI-Africa. The session was broadcast on Joy 99.7 FM, Luv 99.5 FM, the JoyNews channel on DStv 421 and GOtv 125, and major podcast platforms.

A central point of discussion revolved around reports confirming that a United States immigration court had granted Ken Ofori-Atta’s Green Card I-485 petition, effectively granting him permanent residency. The court’s decision notably considered evidence related to actions by Ghana's Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), including its earlier declaration of Ofori-Atta as a fugitive from justice. Within the context of these US immigration proceedings, the court found the criminal charges against the former Finance Minister to be “not credible,” a ruling specifically focused on whether he met the legal requirements for adjustment of status.

Kwaku Ansa-Asare, a senior Ghanaian legal academic, strongly critiqued the OSP’s approach, attributing the procedural vulnerability that the US immigration court exploited to the OSP’s failure to obtain prior authorization from the Attorney General (AG) as mandated by Article 88, clauses 1, 3 to 6 of the Constitution. He asserted that the AG holds primary authority in such matters, and the OSP did not seek the required approval. Ansa-Asare described this as a fundamental procedural misstep, arguing that the outcome should not have been a surprise. He highlighted that the legal question stemming from this failure had already been resolved by the Supreme Court, leaving the OSP with options to either discontinue its current approach and return to the AG or allow the AG to intervene. Furthermore, Ansa-Asare stated that he personally advised Ofori-Atta to return to Ghana and face the charges to avoid the perception of being a fugitive. He also criticized the overall handling of the Ofori-Atta saga as “not fair to him and his person,” deeming it an infringement on his dignity and emphasizing the constitutional presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

Kofi Bentil, Lawyer and Senior Vice President of IMANI-Africa, characterized Ofori-Atta’s Green Card acquisition as “a victory” for him, while simultaneously clarifying that permanent residency in the US does not confer immunity from extradition, noting that even US citizens have been extradited. Bentil suggested that the US authorities' decision to grant the Green Card, after a thorough review of Ofori-Atta’s circumstances, could be interpreted as a “rebuke of sorts” to the Ghanaian process, signaling that the US