Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, has announced that embattled former Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, will appear before an immigration judge on January 20, 2025.
Speaking on NewsFile on JoyNews on Saturday, January 10, 2026, Dr Ayine detailed, “In this current matter, he will appear before an immigration judge on January 20th [2026]. He has a right to appeal that decision to a district court. From the district court, it can go to a circuit court of appeals.
Then from there to the United States Supreme Court. That is potentially the legal pathway to the determination as to whether or not he should be taken from America. If he doesn’t self-deport, this is what is going to happen.
“In the extradition case, again, a district court will hear the proceedings and make a determination as to whether to extradite him. If he’s not happy about that, he can go to a circuit court of appeal and to the United States of America,” he explained.
The Attorney General also shared details of a confidential conversation he had with Ken Ofori-Atta’s high-profile US lawyers.
He revealed, “John Ashcroft, the former Attorney General of the United States of America, called me and said he was the one representing Ken Ofori-Atta in the matter, but his concerns and reason for calling me were for me to assure him that when Ken is returned to Ghana, he’ll get a fair trial.
“And I assured him of the fact that under this government and in accordance with Article 19 of the constitution, his right to a fair trial is guaranteed. Ken Ofori-Atta is not a person who will come here, and we’re going to treat him very shabbily and so on and so forth. He will be accorded due process of law. His fair trial rights will be guaranteed, and so on,” he disclosed.
Dr Ayine added, “So, I talked with John Ashcroft, including the lawyer who granted the interview [Enayat Qasimi], so there were three of them; three lawyers who spoke to me via Zoom on that day when they were expressing concerns. So, at that point in time, it was confidential. I could not mention John Ashcroft as his lawyer”.
“But I was simply saying that when you take the fact that he has these top lawyers coming to court in America to defend him, it is not going to be a day’s work to bring him home,” he explained.
His comments follow, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) picked and detained Ken Ofori-Atta.
A public notice issued by Ghana-based law firm Minkah-Premo, Osei-Bonsu, Bruce-Cathline and Partners (MPOBB) on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, revealed that Ofori-Atta’s detention is linked to questions surrounding his continued stay in the United States, rather than any criminal wrongdoing.
According to them, Ofori-Atta has a pending petition for adjustment of status, which, in US immigration law, allows an individual to remain in the country beyond the validity of their original visa while it is considered.
The public notice read, “The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as of yesterday (6 January 2026), detained the former Minister for Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, regarding the status of his current stay in the United States. His US legal team is in contact with ICE and expects the matter to be resolved expeditiously,”
“Mr Ofori-Atta has a pending petition for adjustment of status, which authorises a person to stay in the US legally beyond the period of validity of their visa. Under US law, a change of status by this method is common.
“The public is, therefore, advised to note that he is a law-abiding person and is fully cooperating with ICE to have this issue resolved. His legal team is in contact with ICE and working to resolve the matter as expeditiously as possible,” the public notice further read.