Solomon Owusu, a member of the Movement for Change, has urged the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to place a $5 million bounty on former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
He believes that simply declaring Ofori-Atta wanted and adding him to Interpol’s Red List is not enough.
Speaking during a panel discussion on United Television (UTV) monitored by Kumasimail.com, Owusu said, “The OSP red alert is not enough. There should be a $5 million bounty on Ken Ofori-Atta. By now, wherever he is, someone must have found him. He could be at the airport in Ghana.”
Owusu added that even a smaller bounty, like $100,000, would encourage people, especially those in the United States who want to return home, to reveal Ofori-Atta’s location.
He questioned the Kissi Agyabeng-led OSP, asking why they are not using a bounty approach. To him, when the police want to arrest someone, they place a bounty on the person, and the suspect is usually arrested.
“When Ghana police want to arrest someone, they place a let’s say bounty of 5,000 cedis or 2,000 cedis. After that, the suspect is usually arrested the next day,” Owusu explained.
“The OSP should go beyond just declaring him wanted and involving Interpol. They should add a bounty because the amount of money involved is huge. If Ofori-Atta returns and investigations are completed, it will be a big win,” he emphasized.
Owusu criticized Ofori-Atta’s lawyers for their handling of the situation stating “On January 31, 2025, his lawyers said he was treating himself and did not know when he would return. That was a clear sign he did not intend to come back.”
He also expressed frustration with the OSP’s approach.
“This whole thing feels like a basic lesson from Ashtown 101. On February 17, his lawyers informed the OSP that he would have surgery between March 20 and 21. The OSP then said he would be okay by mid-May and later extended the return date to June 2. At that time, his lawyers did not complain about the new date.”
Owusu reminded the public that the Minority Leader, Afenyo Markin, had promised Parliament and Ghanaians that Ofori-Atta would return by May.
Again, he stressed that Ofori-Atta and his lawyers made Ghanaians believe that ‘the surgery happened in March. If it did not, why didn’t they inform the OSP earlier?’ Solomon Owusu questioned.”
He accused Ofori-Atta’s camp of fabricating medical reports after the OSP declared him wanted.
“When the June deadline passed, they started making up stories that he had not yet had surgery. Then they released a fake medical report. Any serious doctor would throw that report in the trash.”
Source : www.kumasimail.com /Kwadwo Owusu
