Special Prosecutor Is Right To Declare Ofori Atta A Wanted Fugitive--Lawyer Isaac Minta Larbi Defends Kissi Agyabeng 

Chairman of Eastern Regional Legal Team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Lawyer Isaac Minta Larbi backed the decision of the Special Prosecutor, Mr Kissi Agyabeng to declare former Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori Atta a wanted fugitive.

According to the legal luminary, he thinks that the SP acted in a proper way to declare Mr Ofori Atta a  wanted fugitive saying that the posture by the former Minister of Finance clearly shows that he fled the country to evade investigations by the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) into the high profile corrupt cases levelled against him.

Lawyer Larbi made this statement when he was on Accra FM discussing the Press Conference by the Special Prosecutor regarding the Former Finance Minister who has been declared wanted and a fugitive

He said the SP is doing his mandatory work saying that the work of OSP is to investigate fraud and corrupt people within government institutions and agencies.

He noted that he has followed up on what Mr Kissi Agyabeng was saying in regard to the raid of the house of the former Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori Atta.

He pointed out that he has also read in detail the contents of the statement issued by lawyers of Mr Ken Ofori Atta in respect of the matter under the bone of contention.

According to Lawyer Larbi, the whole brouhaha revolves  around the issues of trust and confidence in whether the former Minister of Finance under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration is willing to avail himself for investigation as requested by SP. 

"This is where the problem is on this matter," he said adding that genuinely if you are sick and you are out of the country for medical treatment, it shouldn't really create any problem.

He said "l think that the OSP is interpreting those letters to mean that the former Finance Minister does not intend to return to Ghana and for that matter not to make himself available for further investigations.

" And that when that happens, then you give reasons to SP or other state anti-corruption investigation bodies the reasons to believe that you may not want to avail yourself for further investigation, especially when you are out of the country. And that it is not as easy as it is to look for you within the jurisdiction.

"Then there is a basis for you to be declared wanted and a fugitive. This is because a fugitive is someone who has left the jurisdiction with no intention of returning," Lawyer Larbi  explained.

Mostly, according to Lawyer Larbi, this kind of abscondment is usually on the basis that an alleged crime has been committed or there's the suspicion that a crime has been committed.

He indicated that the intention for leaving the jurisdiction is premised on the crimes one has committed. 

In his explanation, the legal luminary stated that "once you leave the jurisdiction, it can be assumed that there is no intention to return to the jurisdiction because of the alleged crime or offence you have committed. 

On that basis, he stressed that one can be declared a fugitive.

According to him, it is early days yet that the 
 SP has demanded that Mr. Ofori Atta should make himself available for investigation on the corruption levelled against him, irrespective of whether he is sick or not.

He pointed out that "l would believe that if the former Minister of Finance intends to return to Ghana, he may instruct his lawyers to respond to this press conference organised by the SP and declare his intention to make himself available to the OSP for investigation.

"Or probably there must be some assurances along the line as to when they could possibly make the client available. I think that may avert the situation," he added.

"This is because every investigative authority is giving enough power by the state to be able to ensure that whenever the anti corruption body needs you or wherever you are if they want to bring you for further investigations they can be able to do that without any obstruction" Mr Larbi explained.

He said once Mr Ken Ofori Atta is out of jurisdiction if the OSP needs him, there are other legal processes that the SP may be able to activate to bring him back to the jurisdiction.

Since the OSP has declared him wanted and a fugitive, Lawyer Larbi stated that Mr Ofori Atta can be brought back to Ghana to face investigations on the matter.

He stressed that "Once he is out of the jurisdiction if indeed you need him, there are other legal protests they have to activate to get him back to Ghana. It is possible to bring the person back into the country when you activate those necessary legal processes."

He believes that the lawyers of Mr Ken Ofori Atta can write to communicate effectively to the OSP for the OSP to believe that Mr Ken Ofori Atta has no intention of not coming back to Ghana and that should tone the situation down.