The Member of Parliament for Gushegu, Hassan Tampuli, has criticised what he describes as the growing politicisation of the criminal case involving former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, the Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee said Mr Ofori-Atta’s case has been unnecessarily politicised, even though it is a straightforward criminal matter.
“What is important is that it’s too much politicisation of a simple criminal matter,” he stressed.
His comments come amid ongoing public debate over efforts to secure the return of Ken Ofori-Atta to Ghana to face investigations and possible prosecution over alleged financial misconduct during his tenure as Finance Minister.
He further contrasted the current approach with how the state previously handled the case of Sedinam Tamakloe, who absconded while facing prosecution.
“If you look at the case of Sedinam Tamakloe, when she absconded, the Attorney-General didn’t make any fuss. There was no press conference, there was nothing. Until recently, I didn’t even know there was an extradition request,” he noted.
Mr Tampuli argued that Ghana’s authorities can pursue the case against Ofori-Atta even without his physical presence in the country, questioning the intensity of the public campaign surrounding the matter. “Sometimes you wonder what’s going on. It’s just much ado about nothing,” he added.
He further pointed out the difficulties involved in extradition processes, citing an example from Nigeria: the case of former petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, whose extradition has remained unsuccessful for years despite multiple charges and asset seizures.
“It’s not easy to extradite people like that. If I have deep apprehension that you are going to trample on my rights, I have every right to decide whether I can take this risk or not,” he stated.
He added that recent arrests and onerous bail conditions imposed on party officials including Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi) and Osei Assibey, who were arrested and granted what he termed “onerous” bail conditions sends the wrong signal.
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