In ICE custody: Ken Ofori-Atta turns down Ghana embassy officials visit without lawyers' presence
The Embassy of Ghana in Washington, DC, has said former Finance Minister Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta declined to meet consular officials without his lawyers present after he was taken into custody by United States immigration authorities.
In a press release dated January 10, 2026, signed by Ambassador Victor Smith, the embassy said it received information about Mr Ofori-Atta’s detention and took steps to verify the circumstances surrounding the matter.
After confirming the information, the embassy contacted the detention facility to request access to Mr Ofori-Atta in order to provide consular support in line with diplomatic and international protocols. The embassy was later told by officials at the facility that Mr Ofori-Atta declined to speak with consular officers at the time without his lawyers present.
The embassy said it remains in contact with relevant United States authorities and continues to follow the case to see that Mr Ofori-Atta’s rights are respected.
The former minister was arrested on January 6, 2026, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
He is being held at the Caroline Detention Facility in Bowling Green, Virginia.
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine said Mr Ofori-Atta’s United States visa was revoked in July 2025.
He said the former minister was given until November 29, 2025, to leave the country, but failed to do so.
“The visa was revoked. So it is not about overstaying,” Dr Ayine said. “This is not an immigration matter. The visa was revoked, and I am saying this on authority.”
Mr Ofori-Atta’s Ghanaian lawyers, Minkah-Premo, Osei-Bonsu, Bruce-Cathline and Partners, said in a notice issued on January 7, 2026 that their client has a pending petition for adjustment of status, which allows a person to stay in the United States beyond the period of a visa while an application is under review.
Mr Ofori-Atta is due to appear before an immigration judge on January 20, 2026, and has the right to appeal any ruling through the courts.
In November 2025, the Office of the Special Prosecutor charged Mr Ofori-Atta in absentia with 78 counts of corruption and related offences. Prosecutors accuse him of playing a central role in an alleged scheme that they say caused the state a financial loss of about $128 million.
In December 2025, Ghana sent a formal extradition request to the United States Department of Justice seeking the return of Mr Ofori-Atta and another suspect, Ernest Darko Akore.
Mr Ofori-Atta has been in the United States since January 2025 for medical treatment. He underwent surgery on June, 13 2025 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
He served as Ghana’s Finance Minister from 2017 to February 2024 under President Nana Akufo-Addo and oversaw the economy during the Covid-19 period and later talks with the International Monetary Fund.
Below is the statement issued by the Ghana Embassy in the US:
