The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has clarified that former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta cannot be tried in absentia unless he is first arrested and formally charged under Ghanaian law.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, 7th June, Samuel Appiah Darko, Director of Strategy, Research, and Communication at the OSP explained the legal procedure required before any trial in absentia can occur.

“When they talk of trial in absentia, I’m like wait a minute – let us finish with the processes of arrest before you then bring that,” he said.

He elaborated on the legal steps involved in securing a warrant: “When we say a warrant, it means that a law enforcement agency will go to a court of law and file a motion or affidavit and a police extract, and then you detail the offence for which you’re looking for the person. It’ll be granted you. Or you go for the second process where you go to a district court judge and file a complaint and the judge will then issue a warrant for police to carry it out.”

The clarification follows renewed efforts by the OSP to apprehend Ofori-Atta after he failed to honour a summons by the June 2 deadline.

His legal team cited cancer treatment and submitted medical documents, but the OSP deemed them inadequate.

Consequently, a formal request was made to INTERPOL, and on Thursday, 5 June, Ofori-Atta was officially placed on INTERPOL’s Red Notice list.

The alert identifies him as a 65-year-old Ghanaian male, born in Accra, and fluent in both English and Twi.