The Human Rights court has dismissed the interlocutory injunction filed by former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to restrain the Special Prosecutor from declaring him wanted.
Lawyers of the former Finance Minister on March 27, filed the motion asking the High Court to order the Office of the Special Prosecutor to remove his name from the list of wanted persons.
Ken Ofori-Atta averred that the OSP breached principles of administrative justice by continuing to display his photograph and personal details on its official social media platforms.
The motion also sought a court order prohibiting any future publications of such designations without judicial approval, adding that continuous display of his name was injurious to the former minister.
But in his ruling on Wednesday, June 18, Justice Amoako stated that Ken Ofori Atta’s injunction motion failed to meet the requirements.
“Applicant failed to meet second requirement for grant of injunction…
“Injury complained of by applicant is reparable and can be compensated for by the award of damages.”
On February 12, the OSP announced that Mr Ofori-Atta was a fugitive from justice, citing his failure to respond to invitations for questioning over allegations of corruption and corruption-related offences, including the release of funds for the construction of the National Cathedral.
This followed what the Special Prosecutor described as the former Minister’s unwillingness or failure to honour an in-person invitation to the Office.
The former Finance Minister then sued the Special Prosecutor and the Office for declaring him wanted and a ‘fugitive from justice’. the suit averred that the OSP had no statutory powers to use media briefing to declare a person wanted or fugitive from justice.
Ofori-Atta subsequently filed an injunction motion seeking to restrain the OSP from further publishing his name and photographs on its social media pages.
He prayed the court to also order the institution to immediately remove his name from the OSP’s list of wanted persons and prevent future reference of him as a fugitive of justice without judicial approval.
In his ruling however, Justice Kwame Amoako noted that the former Finance Minister’s motion failed to meet the requirements for the grant of interlocutory injunction.
The three requirements for the grant of interlocutory injunction are whether “there is a serious question to be tried, serious damage that cannot be remedied by the award of damages and whether the balance of convenience tilts in his favour.”
He thus dismissed the injunction and awarded a cost of GHC5,000 against Ken Ofori-Atta.
Meanwhile the Special Prosecutor has issued an Interpol Red Notice against the former Finance Minister and extradition proceedings have begun with the relevant authorities to secure his return to Ghana.
Family and lawyers of the former Finance Minister have condemned the move by the Office of the Special Prosecutor citing that he is unwell and had communicated to the institution.
