STORY: Kwabena Rockson

A raging controversy over the extradition of former Finance Minister has set the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine on a collision course with the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyabeng.

The Special Prosecutor has come under intense criticism for failing to carry through extradition proceedings after the earlier heat he placed on the former Finance Minister. For many, he appears to be stalling. Worse still others suspect that he may have been compromised.

When NDC General Secretary, Fiifi Kwetey, lashed out at some personalities within his government for cutting deals with officials of the previous government fingered for corrupt practices, Ken Ofori Atta, the Attorney General and the Special Prosecutor came into sharp focus. Whether the suspicions were justifiable or not, the seeming lull in the pursuit of the extradition of Ken Ofori Atta raised questions.

The Attorney General through the Deputy Attorney General, Justice Srem-Sai yesterday expressed concerns over the delay by the Office of Special Prosecutor in processing the docket. According to him, the docket is a vital requirement for the extradition proceedings. These were concerns expressed by the Deputy AG after public complaints over the delays in extraditing the former Finance Minister after viral videos of him and his wife allegedly walking in the streets of Washington DC.

The recent furore over Ken Ofori-Atta mirrors the growing frustration among many Ghanaians over the failure to bring Ken Ofori Atta to justice; It foretells of the potential backlash the NDC government will face if it should fail to prosecute Ken Ofori Atta after the serious allegations of criminal culpability in some of his dealings.

Under the NPP government, Ken Ofori Atta was a colossus; touted as the longest serving Finance Minister in the Fourth Republic, he failed to shine as many had expected of an NPP Finance Minister. For all the years he served as Finance Minister, there was virtually very little to show in terms of financial progress and economic growth. Yet, there are questions as to whether the government can secure any conviction. It is early days yet and a winding legal battle may bring the real issues and truths to the fore.

The former Finance Minister faces serious accusations on questionable financial dealings relative to the controversial National Cathedral Project and the SML contract. It is not necessarily a case of pronouncing guilt on Mr. Ofori Atta but more like proving the guilt or innocence of the former Finance Minister after all the media blitz about alleged sordid deals under his watch and supervision.

For many these are deals that exposed the indiscretions of a government that had preached financial prudence and extolled the economic competence and wizardry of their skilled “men”, capable of turning around the Ghanaian economy. In the end, the Covid-19 Pandemic and Russia-Ukraine War became the call-out pawns for our torturous economic circumstances under the immediate past NPP government.

The NDC is facing serious revulsion from within its own ranks over what many considers to be the snail pace at which corruption cases in the previous government are being prosecuted. The past week has witnessed an upshot of cases proceeding to the courts. Yet, the Party may still face serious credibility challenges if it fails to effectively prosecute high profile persons, such as the former Finance Minister, whom so much mud has been thrown at, to put to sleep the allegations of corruption.