Former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has not returned to Ghana, according to Vice President of IMANI Africa Kofi Bentil, not because he is afraid of the accusations made against him but rather because he is concerned about how the state security apparatus and the legal system would handle him if he went back.
In an interview with TV3’s KeyPoint on Saturday, January 17, 2026, he stated that Ken Ofori-Atta is concerned about the type of care he will receive given his medical condition.
The former finance minister is not above the law, Kofi Bentil said, and he is willing to come face the allegations in exchange for treatment.
“It is not about the charges he is afraid of, he is afraid of the treatment he will get…nobody is above the law, so Ken Ofori-Atta is not above the law. If for some reason, he has to come and face whatever, Ambassador Smith says he thinks he will come and face it but he is afraid of how he will be treated.”
“I am saying that based on everything, his apprehension is that even though he is a sick man who has gone through all these surgeries and he is recuperating and whatever it is, he does not think that he will be treated well like what Ambassador Smith is saying,” he stated.
He stated that if the state can trial Ken Ofori-Atta in his absence, it should do so, just as it did with former MASLOC CEO Sedina Tamakloe.
“My point is that if there is a way to try this man, go ahead and do it,” says Mr. Bentil.
Kofi Bentil emphasised that the government must find a method to work with Ofori-Atta to convince him to return to Ghana.
“We who are close to him think that what Ambassador Smith said is the truth. Ken would like to come, he is not above the law not so we are not asking for special treatment but what will it take for us to facilitate his coming so he will subject himself to these things,” he stated.
Victor Emmanuel Smith, Ghana’s ambassador to the US, added that former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has voiced concerns about what would happen to him if he returned to Ghana.
Mr. Smith claims that Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, the cousin of Mr. Ofori-Atta, conveyed this anxiety over the phone.
“Gabby called me and said Ken wants to come but he is afraid of how he will be treated,” Mr Smith said on TV3’s The KeyPoints on January 17.”
” So I told him I wanted to meet Ken and give him the assurance that he will be taken through the legal process, because the Attorney-General, Dr Ayine gave me that assurance,” Ambassador Smith said.
According to 3news and other sources, Ken Ofori-Atta is facing serious legal charges and immigration concerns:
Ofori-Atta and seven other individuals were formally charged with 78 counts of corruption and corruption-related offences by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in November 2025.
Investigations into the Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) contract and purported abuse of public monies are the main sources of these accusations.
Ofori-Atta was declared a fugitive of justice by the OSP prior to the formal accusations because he did not show up for interrogation, even though his team claimed he was abroad receiving medical care.
Ofori-Atta was taken into custody in Washington, D.C. on January 10, 2026. His guest visa expired in November 2025, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported on January 16, 2026, that he is being detained as a “illegal alien.”
In order to address the 78 corruption charges in Ghana, Attorney-General Dr. Dominic Ayine has formally requested his extradition to the United States.
Source: newsthemegh.com