Why was an arrest warrant issued for someone outside Ghana? – Amidu quizzes Mahama

Martin Amidu has challenged the Mahama administration to explain why an arrest warrant was obtained for former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, despite clear evidence that he was outside the country at the time.

In a strongly worded statement, the Former Attorney General and Special Prosecutor accused the government of misleading the public and engaging in deceptive tactics regarding the raid on Ofori-Atta’s residence.

“President John Mahama, as the repository of executive power and authority, has some explanation to do on why a warrant of arrest would be obtained in respect of a person whom the government knew was outside Ghana at the time the warrant of arrest was applied for,” Amidu stated.

The controversy follows a raid on Ofori-Atta’s home, which has sparked public debate about the Mahama administration’s approach to handling former officials. Amidu argued that the government had access to official records that would have confirmed Ofori-Atta’s whereabouts, making the warrant unjustifiable.

“The government can scam Ghanaians with deception, disinformation, misinformation, and blatantly dirty propaganda, but it cannot run away from the fact that it has records from the flight manifests and documents required of persons departing and entering Ghana through Kotoka International Airport (KIA) or the approved exit points of Ghana,” he said.

Amidu further pointed out that for high-profile individuals like Ofori-Atta, security agencies routinely track their movements, ensuring that government officials, including the President, are regularly updated.

“In the case of a ‘high-profile person’ such as Ken Ofori-Atta, to borrow Kissi Agyebeng’s description, there exist daily, weekly, and monthly security briefs that contain when they depart and re-enter Ghana while in public service or retired from public service,” he explained.

The former Special Prosecutor maintained that the government had no excuse for issuing an arrest warrant under such circumstances.

He emphasized that the National Security Secretariat, which employed Richard Jakpa, was fully aware of Ofori-Atta’s movements.

“The President and the National Security Secretariat, which employed Richard Jakpa, hold records of the movements of the so-called high-profile persons, apart from the daily, weekly, and monthly security briefs submitted to the President himself and others,” Amidu asserted.