Kofi Bentil, a Senior Vice President of IMANI-Africa and lawyer, has said the extradition process of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta will need a small miracle.
According to Kofi Bentil, the process will be extremely challenging with US authorities scrutinising every aspect before acting.
He highlighted that the Attorney General was managing the expectations of the Ghanaians by informing the public that Ken Ofori-Atta has hired top US lawyers to fight his extradition process to Ghana.
Speaking on JoyNews, on December 20, 2025, Kofi Bentil explained, “What the Attorney-General did was manage expectations of the public by informing you that with the kind of things that have happened in the past year—which constitutes a defence for Ken Ofori-Atta—and with the kind of lawyers he will have… and of course he won’t have little-boy lawyers but big-boy lawyers… it will be a small miracle to extradite Ken Ofori-Atta to Ghana.”
He added, “Dr Ayine is also a top-notch lawyer, but what he is telling Ghanaians—he won’t say it, but I will—is that the process will be extremely challenging, and the U.S. legal system will scrutinise every aspect before acting.”
Kofi Bentil comments come on the heels of Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, the Attorney General, who has announced that the former Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has hired top US lawyers to fight his extradition process to Ghana.
According to Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, the lawyers hired by Ken Ofori-Atta do not daunt him, and he knows there is going to be a fight in the federal courts in the US.
He revealed that the requirement for the extradition request to be tried in courts may delay the return of Ofori-Atta to Ghana, which makes it difficult to give a potential date.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Thursday, December 18, 2025, the Attorney General stated, “I just got to know yesterday that he has hired some of the top lawyers in the United States of America, very experienced lawyers to defend him. Now, I’m not afraid at all, I am not afraid at all. But it means that there is going to be a fight in the federal courts in the US.
“If the district court says ‘no’, he will go to the circuit court, all right? If the Circuit Court says ‘no’, he is entitled to go to the US Supreme Court to fight his case.”
He added, “So, I cannot tell you that he will come tomorrow or he will come the next day. And I’m just being honest. Accounting to the people means being explicit and truthful. So this is what I mean, we are faced with.”
He further revealed that he has formally transmitted a request for the extradition of Ken Ofori-Atta and an alleged accomplice, Ernest Akore, from the United States.
He added, “I have, on behalf of the Government of His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama, taken the requisite steps to bring him to Ghana to face trial. And if I were him, this is his home; he should just join the next flight and come here.
“Under my watch, he will not be treated unfairly. You know, he will go through due process and be prosecuted, just like any other person, just like Kwabena Adu-Boahene, or Hanan (Abdul-Wahab Aludiba), or any of the persons that we have filed charges against,” he said.