Enayat Qasimi, an international legal practitioner and lead counsel for former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, has described the ongoing GRA–SML case as politically driven, insisting that his client is not attempting to evade justice.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC, Qasimi argued that investigative authorities, particularly the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), were fully aware that Mr Ofori-Atta was abroad for medical treatment and therefore had no justification to trigger a Red Notice against him.
Qasimi maintained that his client remains willing to cooperate with Ghana’s legal process and has no intention of avoiding accountability.
“He is fully committed to complying with the laws of Ghana, and he is fully committed to answering for anything that he did when he was the finance minister. There is absolutely no question about that,” he said.
According to him, the central issue is whether Mr Ofori-Atta’s constitutional rights are being respected throughout the process.
“The question is, is he being given the rights that he’s guaranteed under Ghanaian law? He is not, and he has never been,” Qasimi stated.
He further claimed that the OSP was fully informed about Ofori-Atta’s whereabouts and medical condition at the time the Red Notice was issued.
“Mr Ofori-Atta was receiving treatment. He was in the US, and they knew all along. There was no purpose for issuing the Red Notice, but they went ahead and issued it,” he added.
Mr Ofori-Atta is facing 78 counts of corruption alongside seven others in connection with the Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) revenue assurance contract with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The charges include alleged breaches of Section 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and Section 92(2)(b) of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).
Meanwhile, the Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Dr Dominic Ayine, announced on December 18 that his office has formally submitted an extradition request to the United States for MMrOfori-Atta and an alleged accomplice, Ernest Akore, as investigations continue.
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