Martin Amidu has issued a scathing critique of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), warning the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government against using the court of public opinion to persecute former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
In a lengthy statement, Amidu cited historical examples to caution against politically motivated prosecutions, pointing to the untimely deaths of Victor Selormey (NDC) and Adamu Dramani Sakande (NPP)—both of whom died shortly after being pardoned on health grounds.
He described these as “collateral damage within the political elite.”
According to him, the current approach adopted by the OSP, under William Kissi Agyebeng, to target Ken Ofori-Atta with an INTERPOL Red Notice, mirrors a dangerous pattern.
“The trial of former politically appointed public officers in the court of public opinion needs to stop and I will suggest that the NDC government begins with the Ken Ofori-Atta case to have him presumed innocent and tried only in a court of law,” he stated.
Amidu proposed that the Attorney-General take over the case from the OSP using powers under Article 88 of the Constitution, and assign it to either the Ghana Police Service or the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) for a “professional and impartial investigation.”
He warned that failing to do so would deepen political polarization with potential national security implications.
“The Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) does not override the provisions of Article 88 of the Constitution, otherwise it will be unconstitutional,” he emphasized.
Martin Amidu further advised that Ken Ofori-Atta could challenge the INTERPOL Red Notice through the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL Files (CCF), citing political persecution and the risk of an unfair trial under the current OSP.
He criticized the OSP’s conduct, claiming the Special Prosecutor knowingly pushed for humiliation: “Before the SP, Kissi Agyebeng, started to humiliate Ken Ofori-Atta while he was already abroad, he knew that for four years the OSP could not get information… or cooperation to extradite [others] to Ghana pursuant to INTERPOL Red Notices.”
Amidu argued that the attempt to extradite Ofori-Atta would likely fail, given the former Minister’s new profile as a“national security asset by foreign intelligence agencies and governments” in today’s geopolitical landscape.
He concluded with a stinging rebuke of the OSP’s use of public funds: “Once more, the OSP has dissipated the public purse allocated to it sowing the wind and shall reap the whirlwind.”
