Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has described the absence of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta as a national embarrassment, urging the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and former President Nana Akufo-Addo to take immediate action.

Speaking on JoyNews Desk on January 13, Mr Kpebu said the situation has brought unnecessary international scrutiny to Ghana.

“This is where we should be reminding Akufo-Addo and the NPP. The Akufo-Addo administration and the NPP should prevail upon [Ofori-Atta] before he stays in custody there. The longer this goes on, the more we suffer embarrassment as a nation that your finance minister is running away; he is a fugitive from justice. We don’t want such embarrassment as Ghana,” he said.

He urged the party to privately contact Ofori-Atta and publicly assure Ghanaians that steps are being taken to resolve the matter.

“So the NPP, if they really consider themselves credible, they should come out openly. They should seek Ofori-Atta privately and come and assure Ghanaians that they’ve asked Ofori-Atta to come. The same for Akufo-Addo. It’s an embarrassment,” he added.

Mr Kpebu also criticised the misuse of public office and privileges:

“We can’t give you a public office; you enjoy all the privileges, etc.; you leave office, and now the payback is to embarrass us internationally. What have we done to deserve such embarrassment? So our sin is to have voted for NPP to come into office. Then now you get the opportunity to serve as finance minister. Then you are asked to come and answer questions. You run away, you get arrested, and now it’s an embarrassment internationally for us as Ghana. I don’t think we deserve that,” he said.

He further stressed the high responsibility of the former finance minister and urged Ofori-Atta to reduce the embarrassment to the country by returning:

“If anything at all, we gave him an opportunity to serve in a high public office. Minister, that’s very high. The finance minister, at that. So he should reduce the embarrassment to Ghana by coming. And the NPP and Akufo-Addo must step in and publicly tell us what they are doing. It’s not a matter of just politics,” he said.

Reacting to statements from some NPP members advising Ofori-Atta not to return, Mr Kpebu added:

“And that’s how it comes when you read statements from some of the NPP members that they would advise Ofori-Atta not to come. Really? Do we understand what we are saying? We give you public office, such an honour. And then the payback is to embarrass us internationally. We can’t take that,” he concluded.