Picture: Dr. Sunday Adelaja / Facebook
Ghana’s former finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta has been detained by United States immigration authorities over irregularities with his visa, his lawyers say.
According to Business Insider Africa Ofori-Atta, who left Ghana in 2025 for medical treatment, has been in the US while his legal team seeks to adjust his immigration status. His lawyers describe the detention as an administrative matter tied to his paperwork rather than a criminal arrest.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor in Ghana has charged the former minister with a series of corruption and procurement offences linked to his time in office from 2017 to 2024. Ghanaian authorities transmitted an extradition request to the US in December 2025, but officials and legal experts say the current detention relates solely to immigration procedures (Institute of Spatial Development).
Ghana’s embassy and lawyers are reported to be engaging with US authorities while Ofori-Atta remains in custody. Observers say the case highlights how parallel legal tracks, immigration proceedings in the United States and criminal processes at home, can complicate high profile cross-border cases.
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