Ghana's former finance minister Kenneth Ofori-Atta has been placed on Interpol's Red Notice list, accused of using public office for profit.

On 12 February, Ghana's Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) declared Ofori-Atta a wanted person and fugitive from justice after he had left the country and "failed to indicate a reasonable time of his return to the jurisdiction."

The OSP said it had informed Ofori-Atta that he was a suspect in a number of corruption investigations and had directed him to attend a meeting at the OSP on a specified date. Six days later, the OSP announced that Ofori-Atta had been in touch to reschedule a new meeting in May and was therefore no longer on the wanted list.

But his failure to appear as scheduled has now led Ghanaian authorities to place him on Interpol's Red Notice list, alerting international law enforcement to detain him pending extradition.

The charges against him include violating procurement procedures relating to ambulances and to a national cathedral project, which remains unfinished despite government outlay of some 58 million dollars.

Ofori-Atta, who is believed to be receiving medical treatment out of the country, has challenged the charges against him and claimed he has been unfairly treated.

'Economic mismanagement'

Ofori-Atta served as Minister of Finance and Economic Planning under the New Patriotic Party's President Nana Okufo-Addo from January 2017 until February 2024.

In November 2022, he survived a parliamentary effort to oust him over economic mismanagement, when Ghana's economy declined and its currency was ranked one of the worst in the world. The following month, Ghana defaulted on most of its external debt and Ofori-Atta oversaw the country's debt restructuring.

He left government in 2024 after a cabinet reshuffle.