Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has expressed doubt that former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta will voluntarily return to Ghana to face corruption-related charges, arguing that the former minister deliberately fled the country due to institutional failures.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Midday News on Thursday, December 18, Mr Kpebu said the extradition process initiated by the government is complex and unlikely to succeed because Ofori-Atta has no intention of submitting himself to Ghana’s justice system.

“Not trusting is not exactly the word. The issue is that it is a complex matter. Ofori-Atta does not intend to come. If he intended to come, he would not have allowed the extradition proceedings to go this far,” he stated.

Mr Kpebu made the comments following the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice’s announcement that Ghana has formally submitted an extradition request to the United States authorities for Ken Ofori-Atta and Ernest Darko Akore to face corruption-related charges brought by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

According to Mr Kpebu, the situation was worsened by what he described as the failure of the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyabeng, to act promptly when a petition was first submitted against the former finance minister.

He referenced investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni’s publication, which he said showed that although a petition was submitted to the OSP in December 2023, formal investigations only began in January 2025, by which time Ofori-Atta had already left the country.

“This is an own goal by the Special Prosecutor. A petition was presented to him in December 2023, yet he sat on the docket until Ofori-Atta left the country. Even when he [Special Prosecutor] saw him [Ofori-Atta], he refused to arrest him,” Mr Kpebu alleged.

The lawyer accused the Special Prosecutor of aiding Ofori-Atta to evade justice, insisting that such conduct has undermined Ghana’s anti-corruption fight.

Mr Kpebu further called for criminal investigations into the conduct of the Special Prosecutor, arguing that it is unjustifiable for a suspect facing multiple cases to leave the country without restriction.

“Ghana should not sit for even one more day. Kissi Agyabeng must leave that office...You cannot have someone with five cases around his neck and then tell Ghanaians that you were powerless. That is injustice,” he added.