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Ken Ofori-Atta has worn many hats in his lengthy profession as an funding banker, entrepreneur and till final 12 months Ghana’s Davos-pleasing finance minister. Now he has a brand new one: a needed man on Interpol’s crimson record.
Ofori-Atta, 65, who has been in search of medical remedy within the US, is needed to reply costs of “utilizing public workplace for revenue” throughout his 2017-2024 tenure as finance minister, the longest in Ghana’s historical past. He denies all costs.
The Interpol crimson discover is the newest salvo in a authorized drama between Ofori-Atta and the Workplace of Ghana’s Particular Prosecutor (OSP), which declared him a “fugitive” in February as a part of a sprawling anti-corruption drive launched by President John Mahama, who took workplace in January.
Ofori-Atta informed the Monetary Instances earlier than the Interpol crimson discover was issued that he was “puzzled and dismayed” by the flip of occasions. He had initially requested the prosecutor to talk to his attorneys on condition that he would “be overseas for the subsequent few months”.
Ofori-Atta stated he was not the “originating nor implementing minister” in 4 of the 5 instances introduced up by the prosecutor, referring to authorities contracts in energy, petroleum and well being.
The previous finance minister can also be needed in relation to an estimated $58mn of public funds spent on Accra’s ill-fated National Cathedral project, which was deserted two years in the past. A religious Christian who as soon as led a prayer session for the success of a eurobond providing, Ofori-Atta personally backed the mission.
The Nationwide Democratic Congress received December’s presidential election promising to stamp out corruption that had allegedly taken maintain through the earlier administration of the New Patriotic Occasion (NPP), of which Ofori-Atta was a number one mild.
The NPP authorities, headed by Nana Akufo-Addo, Ofori-Atta’s cousin, had come to energy promising a squeaky-clean technocratic administration, nevertheless it was pressured to default on the country’s debt in December 2022 and search a $3bn IMF bailout.
As finance minister, Ofori-Atta blamed the Covid-19 pandemic and a pointy foreign money depreciation for the default, however critics say authorities profligacy was additionally an element.
Operation Recuperate All Loot (Oral) was initiated by Mahama to doc alleged instances of corruption. A report submitted in February claimed greater than $20bn had been stolen.
Vibrant Simons, head of analysis on the Imani think-tank in Accra, stated Mahama’s anti-corruption marketing campaign was a response to public anger at a “deepening sense of impunity” among the many political elite. “Excessive-profile prosecutions are central to this technique,” he stated.
Ghana is taken into account one in every of Africa’s most profitable democracies, with a fairly buoyant financial system regardless of the 2022 default.
However because the corruption probe was launched, the capital Accra has been gripped by concern. Officers who served in Akufo-Addo’s authorities have been privately questioning whether or not they could be subsequent on the particular prosecutor’s docket. Many describe the marketing campaign as vindictive and attention-grabbing.
At the very least one former high-ranking Akufo-Addo adviser has taken to driving round Accra with non-public safety to beat back police consideration.
Ofori-Atta is the highest-profile, however not the one, former authorities official to be caught within the widening probe. In March, the non-public residence of Ernest Addison, former central financial institution chief, was raided at daybreak by some 15 closely armed troopers looking for “vaults” he allegedly stored at dwelling. No vaults had been discovered, based on native media reviews.
Imani’s Simons stated Mahama, whose earlier administration from 2012-17 was itself accused of corruption, had not made the “substantive modifications” wanted to root out the lingering notion of pervasive graft. The think-tank, and civil society as an entire, has known as for larger transparency round authorities spending.
It’s also pushing for merit-based appointments, “life-style audits” of these in authorities roles who dwell lavishly, and for unexplained wealth orders to be constructed into the civil service code.
“These are a couple of of many governance reforms demanded over time by civil society organisations which have all the time been brushed apart [in favour of] beauty actions,” Simons stated.
An preliminary thaw in relations between Ofori-Atta and the OSP, headed by Kissi Agyebeng, broke down when the previous finance minister sued the OSP, citing illegal remedy and demanding the elimination of “damaging” content material from the company’s social media accounts.
At a latest press briefing, Agyebeng stated he had rejected Ofori-Atta’s provide to seem at a digital listening to.
“We wish him right here bodily, and we insist on it,” Agyebeng stated. “A suspect in a felony investigation doesn’t decide and select how the investigative physique conducts its investigations and the strategies appropriate to him and his comfort.”
Ofori-Atta didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
