The former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is currently in the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following concerns over his immigration status, his lawyers have disclosed.
In a statement released on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, the law firm Minka-Premo, Osei Bonsu, Bruce Catlin & Partners explained that ICE’s action is strictly related to the conditions of Ofori-Atta’s stay in the United States.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor, through the Attorney-General, has formally requested his extradition from the United States to face justice in Ghana.
In December last year, U.S. officials told the media that the extradition process would take time.
Speaking in an interview on January 8, 2026, Constitutional lawyer John Quason suggested that Ofori-Atta’s detention could be linked to Ghana’s past extraditions of individuals wanted in the U.S. for romance scams and other crimes. He described the move as “orchestrated,” adding:
“When they want to do something, they take their time. If they want to favour you, they will. But when the time comes that there is nothing else they could do to assist you, they come hard at you. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have detained him in the first place. Honourable Ken Ofori-Atta is a darling boy of the Americans. So, all this while they were refusing to bring him, it might have been because he had assisted the U.S. to some extent over the years.”
Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu cautioned that detention alone does not guarantee extradition.
“If he doesn’t want to come and insists we go through due process, it’s not a matter of one, two, or three months. Even the date for his first court appearance could take months. In America, there are long queues.”
Franklin Cudjoe, founding president of the Imani Center for Policy and Education, blamed Ofori-Atta’s Ghanaian legal team for his predicament.
“He better pray that his lawyers are up to the game because Trump doesn’t play. Once they say you are cited for criminal issues in Ghana, your problems multiply several folds. I blame his lawyers; they’ve badly advised him. He should have returned to Ghana long ago.”
Meanwhile, Ofori-Atta’s Ghanaian lawyers stated that his American legal team is engaging with immigration officials and expects the matter to be resolved expeditiously.
By Isaac Kwasi Amekor
