National Security can go to Mayo Clinic to confirm if Ken Ofori-Atta is there – Dr Zaato

Dr Joshua Zaato

Political scientist Dr Joshua Zaato has suggested that Ghana’s National Security apparatus can independently verify whether former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is receiving treatment at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, amid growing tensions between the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the embattled former minister.

Speaking on TV3’s Key Points on Saturday, June 21, Dr Zaato said the public is currently caught in a stalemate between competing narratives—those of Mr Ofori-Atta and the OSP—regarding the former minister’s whereabouts and willingness to cooperate with ongoing investigations.

“National security can go to Mayo Clinic to find out if he is there,” Dr Zaato stated.

He further argued that state intelligence services have the capacity to trace Mr Ofori-Atta’s movements through travel records. “Can the intelligence security of the state track where Ofori-Atta is? If you don't know where he is, the passport can be tracked,” he added. “OSP should track Ofori-Atta with the location provided.”

The comments come in the wake of a renewed dispute between the OSP and Mr Ofori-Atta’s family. On June 2, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng declared the former Finance Minister wanted after he allegedly failed to appear before the OSP as previously arranged.

“It is three hours past the agreed time for Ken Ofori-Atta to attend upon the Office of the Special Prosecutor. He has failed to do so. In view of this, as stated before, I have directed that he should be placed on the wanted list again,” Agyebeng said at a press briefing.

He added, “Illness is not a shield from accountability—unless certified as incapacitating.”

In response, Mr Ofori-Atta’s wife, Angela, pushed back strongly on the claims, insisting her husband is not avoiding accountability. “The Ken that we all know does not run away from accountability. We know that he has been to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to talk about his work. This is not a Ken who runs away from accountability. I ask the public to remember that he hasn't shied away from facing up to issues,” she said in a Joy FM interview on June 16.

Mrs Ofori-Atta confirmed that her husband has been battling cancer and is undergoing treatment abroad. “It's amazing that we have to deal with cancer in the last year. This is the only process by which we hopefully ensure that it doesn't spread,” she explained.

She also defended the family’s decision to prioritise his recovery, saying, “If I have to make the choice, I will make it again. I don't know a wife or family who will send a loved one to respond to a Special Prosecutor when they are battling cancer. So, I'm sorry, but this is what we have to face, we have to get him well.”

She further criticised the OSP for refusing to consider alternative means of interrogation. “Even through these stressful times, he has always said, let me respond to you by video, it is allowed, so that I'm not the cause of you delaying your investigations. He has also said whatever questions you have, you can ask my lawyers, and we will respond. Whatever information you want, we can give you. So, I don't understand what is going on,” she stated.

Mr Ofori-Atta is currently under investigation by the OSP for his role in five major cases during his time as Finance Minister under the Akufo-Addo administration. While details of the ongoing inquiry remain under wraps, public interest in the matter has intensified, especially with the back-and-forth between the former minister’s camp and the Special Prosecutor.