Ofori-Atta Faces US Court Jan 20—AG Says Visa Was Revoked, Extradition to Ghana Looms
Ken Ofori-Atta, a former finance minister, is set to appear in a U.S. court on Tuesday, January 20. This is because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has decided that he no longer has legal status to stay in the country. This could lead to his extradition to Ghana. Dr. Dominic Ayine, Ghana’s Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, has denied that the situation is just a normal visa overstay. He says that U.S. authorities intentionally revoked Mr. Ofori-Atta’s visitor visa because they are still looking into the matter. Dr. Ayine told JoyNews’ Newsfile that Mr. Ofori-Atta had been allowed to stay in the U.S. until November 29, but he didn’t leave. He also said that the visa, which was originally good until February, was taken away on purpose and not because it expired. He said that Ghana’s request for extradition is connected to the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s investigation into the SML case, and that Ghanaian and U.S. authorities are working closely together. In a similar case, Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, the former CEO of MASLOC, is also expected to go to a U.S. court on January 21 to talk about possible extradition to Ghana.
