Kojo Acquah Yankah, a former Member of Parliament and Minister of State in the Rawlings government, has said Bible-quoting Ken Ofori-Atta should have the courage and convictions to face all odds.
According to Kojo Yankah, reports indicating former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is seeking permanent residence in the USA are unfortunate as well as disappointing.
Kojo Yankah cited Ghana’s former finance minister, like Dr Kwesi Botchwey, Richard Kwame Peprah, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Seth Terkper, and Dr Mohammed Amin, who did not seek permanent refuge abroad.
He added that Ken is seeking to abandon his traditional heritage, his old school mates and the values they inherited, his church fraternity and the teachings.
In a Facebook post, Kojo Yankah wrote, “GHANA HERITAGE MONTH: KENNETH NANA YAW OFORI-ATTA
The confirmation of news reports indicating former Finance Minister (2017-2024) Ken Ofori-Atta is seeking permanent residence in the USA is unfortunate as well as disappointing.
Some of us have known Ken since the 1980s – a pleasant and brilliant product of prestigious Achimota School, Columbia University and Yale University School of Management. He founded Databank in Ghana, and our paths crossed in Liberia, where Databank was opening.
Ken, now 66, is deeply familiar with the legal system in Ghana, and I believe that an honest bible-quoting Christian like him would have the courage of his convictions to face all odds.
From my personal experience in politics, l would agree that politics is an unpredictable path to pursue, yet a necessary avenue to serve public interest.
The position of a Finance Minister is a prestigious one, and any person in that role attracts more eyeballs than probably any other Cabinet minister or public servant. And all those put in that position have not been unaware of the kind of responsibility carried with it.
We have known Dr Kwesi Botchwey, Richard Kwame Peprah, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Seth Terkper, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam (2024-2025), and NONE of them has sought permanent refuge abroad, and Ken knows this.
So why is Ken Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta seeking to abandon his traditional heritage, his old school mates and the values they inherited, his church fraternity and the teachings that held them together, the colleagues in the party which made him chairman of their Finance Committee, his cousin former President Akufo-Addo who appointed him as Finance Minister and who is still in the country, his many admirers who loved his regular white outfits?
The laws of Ghana, like the values in the villages and in the churches and mosques, have not changed; only the human beings and personalities keep changing positions.
I am not the only one who will be disappointed if Ken sticks to his word, as his US lawyers say: most of those I have mentioned here will also be.
For posterity, and for the history of the Republic of Ghana, this will be a bad precedent! Nothing to be proud of as part of Ghana Heritage! Come home, Ken! This is where you belong!”.
His remarks follow, Enayat Qasimi, a US-based lawyer representing Ghana’s Ken Ofori-Atta, disclosing that his client has a pathway to US residency.
According to Ken Ofori-Atta’s US-based lawyer, his client will pursue permanent US residency rather than returning to his home country.
Reports by JOYNEWs revealed Enayat Qasimi told Semafor his client has a “pathway to residency” that he would pursue.
“He claimed there were “serious questions” about the independence of the Ghanaian judiciary and said that Mr Ofori-Atta had been subjected to a “political witch hunt” that meant he was unlikely to receive a fair trial over alleged financial impropriety while in office, from 2017 to 2024”, JoyNews is quoted to have said.
In related news, reports suggest the United States immigration court has denied former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta bail.
Reports suggest that Ken Ofori-Atta’s bail, which was heard on February 19, 2026, was unsuccessful.
TV3 in a post stated, “Former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta remains in detention in the United States after a bail application in his immigration case was unsuccessful, according to sources familiar with the proceedings”.
Meanwhile, Ken Ofori-Atta’s name has been permanently deleted from the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) Red Notice following a review.
On Friday, February 13, 2026, Ken Ofori-Atta’s Lawyers in a statement revealed that the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) had communicated its decision to expunge the alert from the organisation’s database.
According to the lawyers, the CCF concluded that the request for Ken Ofori-Atta’s arrest appeared to be primarily political in nature and did not meet INTERPOL’s neutrality requirements.
The statement signed by his lead counsel, Justice Kusi-Minkah Premo of the law firm Minkah-Premo, Osei-Bonsu, Bruce-Cathline & Partners, read, “We are pleased to announce that, today, February 13, 2026, the Commission for The Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) has notified Kenneth Ofori-Atta that on February 4, 2026 during its 135th Session, it determined that the Red Notice issued against Ofori-Atta “appears of a predominantly political character” and is non- compliant with INTERPOL’s rules, and shall be deleted from INTERPOL’s files permanently.
“Specifically, CCF stated that: “After a thorough examination of the elements before it, the commission found that the challenged data registered by the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) of Ghana were not compliant with INTERPOL’s rules and decided that they should be deleted from the INTERPOL information system,” part of the letter read.
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