Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, has admitted that the Office of the Special Prosecutor was powerless under the former Akufo-Addo government.
The Special Prosecutor revealed that the OSP saw former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta leaving Ghana after the 2024 elections, but they were powerless.
According to Kissi Agyebeng, the OSP lacked the operational backing required to enforce any travel restrictions.
Speaking KSM Show, Kissi Agyebeng clarified, “We didn’t watch him leave; we were powerless, that is the truth. We saw him leave, but we couldn’t prevent him from leaving the airport.
We don’t control the airport, we don’t control the exit point. Let’s face facts, before John Dramani Mahama was sworn in on 7th January, Nana Akufo-Addo was the president, that was his cousin.
Now we can rely on the Ghana Immigration Service to block someone, but at the time he left, you call up Immigration, no one will bother to respond to you”, he added.
He further added, “When he left, the President was Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo at the time he left. We were not getting the cooperation at the time from other security agencies”.
“National Security, no (cooperation at the time), situation is different now, National Signal Bureau, no, at the time, the situation is different now, National Intelligence Bureau, zero, at the time, the situation is different now, I mean the security set up was against the OSP, so we will not be able to perform our job, this was the situation,” he disclosed.
His remarks follow the backlash the OSP has been receiving for allowing Ken Ofori-Atta to leave Ghana, particularly from private Legal Practitioner, Martin Kpebu.
Lawyer Kpebu highlighted that Ken Ofori-Atta may be signing contracts to sell off his assets, including Databank, since he has no intention of returning to Ghana.
Speaking on TV3’s Key Point, Lawyer Kpebu stated, “The key thing we have to watch is that right now, we’ve not been able to freeze Mr Ofori-Atta’s assets, as we are talking about right now, it’s even possible that he is signing agreements to sell their shares in Data Bank, his share in Enterprise Insurance.
There are many assets he has. That is where our target should be. So we need this case to enter court quickly. And just before we enter, the law allows OSP to freeze their assets and then, after about two weeks, go back into court and get a longer duration for freezing their asset”.
He added, “So this is very key, very, very key. That’s why I’ve been saying that Kissi Agyebeng has been very incompetent in this Ofori Atta case. You know the man has many man-assets in Ghana. Manasseh did this work for one year, from December 2022 to December 2023.
When Manasseh presented a petition to the OSP, Manasseh and then Aziamu Mensah and Adobea, the other lady, three journalists. So this petition against Ofori-Atta and co was presented in December 2023. By December 2024, OSP had had these petitions for one year. One year, an OSP sat on his hands, pussyfooting Kukwasa. So much so that now we believe this is criminal negligence”.
Meanwhile, Manasseh Azure Awuni, an investigative journalist, has revealed he heard Ghana’s embattled former finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will never come back to the country.
According to Manasseh Azure Awuni, he heard from someone close to Ken Ofori-Atta that he’s never coming back to Ghana.
The investigative journalist is quoted by GHOne TV as having stated, “I heard from someone close to Ken Ofori-Atta about three or four months ago that he’s never coming back to Ghana”.
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