Enayat Qasimi, lawyer for former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has said the ongoing Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) case involving his client is politically motivated.
According to the international legal practitioner, Ofori-Atta is not evading justice as being perceived.
“He explains that the OSP knew Ofori-Atta was seeking medical care abroad, making it illogical to put him on Interpol Red Notice.
Ofori-Atta, the former Finance Minister and cousin to the then President, William Akufo-Addo, is facing 78 counts of corruption alongside seven others over the SML revenue assurance contract with the GRA. The charges include alleged breaches of Section 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and Section 92(2)(b) of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).
Meanwhile, he left the country in January 2025 and has since not returned to face his charges despite assurances from his lawyers in Ghana and the Minority in Parliament that he was going to avail himself for justice.
The OSP, which is investigating his case placed him on a Red Notice and declared him a fugitive from justice.
But, Qasimi tells the BBC in a Wednesday, December 24, 2025, interview that his client is ever ready to cooperate with the legal processes of the country.
“He is fully committed to complying with the laws of Ghana, and he is fully committed to answering for anything that he did when he was the Finance Minister. There is absolutely no question about that,” he said.
Qasimi believes Ofori-Atta’s constitutional rights are being trampled. “The question is, is he being given the rights that he’s guaranteed under Ghanaian law? He is not, and he has never been,” he stated.
He reiterated that the Red Notice was irrelevant since the OSP knew of Ofori-Atta’s health issues and the fact that he was seeking medical care abroad but issued it anyway, implying he was evading justice.
“Mr Ofori-Atta was receiving treatment. He was in the US, and they knew all along. There was no purpose for issuing the Red Notice, but they went ahead and issued it,” he said.
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, has, meanwhile, announced on Thursday, December 18, 2025, that his Office has formally submitted an extradition request to the US for Mr. Ofori-Atta and his alleged accomplice, one Ernest Akore.
