The government of the United States of America says that although it is open to receiving requests for the extradition of Ghanaian fugitives from American soil, the process may not be “quick.”
Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Accra, Rolf Olson, who was speaking at a media round table conversation with visiting Deputy Assistant Secretary for West Africa in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs William B. Stevens, noted that the U.S has established processes and protocols that will be activated in the event any request for the extradition of any person of interest for Ghanaian law enforcement agencies.
His comments come In the wake of questions over why the the Special prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng is yet to successfully extradite former Finance Minister Ken Ofori who he has been on his wanted list since the beginning of the year.
At the start of his trial in absentia Thursday, December 11, following the filing of a 78-count indictment alleging corruption and financial loss to the state, the OSP told the courts that While some of the accused, including Mr Ofori-Atta, are currently outside Ghana and have cited health reasons for their absence, the OSP noted it has applied appropriate legal mechanisms, including summons and cooperation with international law enforcement where applicable, to ensure appearances as required by law.
As of Monday, December 8, 2025, more than 3,100 people have signed a public petition addressed to the US Embassy in Accra demanding the extradition of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. US- based Ghanaian professor Professor Stephen Kweku Asare started the petition on December 2nd, asking American authorities to work with the Ghanaian government to help extradite Mr. Ofori-Atta, who has been officially charged with economic crimes and corruption.
It requests that the Embassy help confirm Mr. Ofori-Atta’s location, encourage cooperation between Ghanaian and US authorities, and speed up the processing of any official extradition request.
However commenting on whether or the not the American government is willing to cooperate with local authorities to triger any process in the US, Rolf Olson explained that there are process of evaluating an extradition request is on the American side is “very well-established and it is generally not very quick.”
He added that if the US receives a request it goes through the various mechanisms. “But the door is always open to requests there is no individuals case that can be prejudged because US judges make the decision so they have the ability to approve or disapprove a request”.
So far, the American law enforcement agencies have been able to extradite 9 Ghanaians this year alone with the lots of the cases relating to cases of romance scam, which has become a dominant transnational activity in the West Africa sub region.
