OSP did not prevent Ofori Atta from travelling abroad – Manasseh

Renowned investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has challenged Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng’s assertion that his office lacked cooperation from security agencies in preventing former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta from leaving Ghana.

In a recent interview with veteran broadcaster Kwaku Sintim-Misa, Mr. Agyebeng claimed that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) was powerless to stop Ofori-Atta because his cousin, former President Nana Akufo-Addo, was in office.

He alleged that several security agencies, including the National Security, National Signals Bureau, and the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), refused to cooperate, leaving only the police and military supporting OSP operations.

Responding in a write-up shared with GhanaWeb, Manasseh Azure Awuni said checks with relevant security agencies revealed that the OSP never formally requested that Ofori-Atta or Ernest Darko Akore, another suspect in the SML scandal, be placed on the official stop list required to prevent departures from the country.

“In the previous administration, the OSP did not request that any of the security agencies or the Immigration Service put Ken Ofori-Atta and Ernest Akore on the stop list,” Awuni wrote. “The OSP has confirmed this and explained that it didn’t trust that the institutions would cooperate with such a request. Even under the current administration, which the OSP says is cooperating with its work, no stop-list request has been made for either individual.”

Awuni explained that stop lists are shared with the Ghana Immigration Service and other entry points, including land borders and seaports. Officers are instructed not to prevent travel unless a person is officially listed, and failure to follow this procedure can result in legal action against them. This, he said, means that unless a formal request is made, Ofori-Atta and Akore could freely enter or leave the country.

According to Awuni’s investigation, Ofori-Atta departed Ghana on 4th January 2025 via Terminal 3 of Kotoka International Airport on a United Airlines flight to Washington, D.C., using a valid Ghanaian passport and visas for the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Ernest Akore left the country on 19th November 2024 to New York, also through Terminal 3, travelling on a ten-year U.S. passport.

The journalist noted that airlines provide passenger manifests ahead of flights, which could be used to stop persons of interest. However, in the absence of formal stop orders from the OSP to the relevant agencies, such measures cannot be enforced.

Awuni’s write-up aims to clarify misinformation surrounding the events and stresses that the OSP’s inaction in requesting stop orders, not agency obstruction, explains why Ofori-Atta and Akore were able to leave Ghana.

In the next part of his investigation, Awuni promises to examine whether the OSP made meaningful efforts in the SML case despite these challenges or only began pursuing the suspects after Ofori-Atta had departed.