Former Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame has said that former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta left Ghana weeks before the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) requested his appearance to answer questions on suspected cases of corruption.

He described the OSP’s actions as “unnecessary” and “extreme.”

Mr Dame commented on the incident when a JoyNews reporter asked his view about it at a press conference on Friday, 14 February, where he addressed the current Attorney General's discontinuation of some high-profile criminal cases.

Mr Dame explained that Mr Ofori-Atta travelled out of the country on 4th January, about three weeks before the OSP made its request for him to appear before it and respond to some questions about suspected corruption cases.

“It is not as if the OSP asked for Ken Ofori-Atta, and then he travelled out of the country. He left Ghana long before the OSP’s request,” Mr Dame stated.

He further argued that a person cannot be accused of evading a criminal process if that person has not first been subjected to any legal process.

“Before a person can be seen to be avoiding the requirement of a criminal process, there must be evidence that the person was first subjected to a process. In this case, there was none,” he noted.

He added that when the OSP finally made the request, Mr Ofori-Atta’s lawyers responded within two weeks, informing the office of his absence and his willingness to cooperate.

Mr Dame said he found the OSP’s reaction “a bit unnecessary,” and believed the situation could have been handled better.