Kissi Agyebeng and Ken Ofori-Attah
Former Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has failed in his pursuit to temporarily restrain the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) from declaring him wanted pending the determination of a substantive motion he filed challenging the Office’s February 12, 2025 decision to declare him wanted at a press conference.
The court, presided over by Justice Kwame Amoako, in a 33-page ruling yesterday, held that the former minister failed to convince the court that irreparable harm will befall him that could not be remedied by way of award of damages if the interim injunction is not granted.
The court was also of the view that the balance of convenience tilts heavily in favour of the OSP, given the public nature and interest which formed its decision to declare him wanted.
Justice Amoako quoted several Supreme Court cases which sounded caution in the exercise of judicial discretion in granting interlocutory injunctions against state institutions and persons performing constitutional and statutory functions.
Suit
On March 13, 2025, Mr. Ofori-Atta sued the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng and the Office for declaring him wanted and ‘fugitive from justice’ as a result of an ongoing investigation.
The suit, filed before a High Court in Accra, avers that the OSP has no statutory powers to use media briefing to declare a person wanted or fugitive from justice.
It also contends that the OSP has no powers other than what is provided for the police to declare a person wanted, and same cannot be done without leave of the court.
The suit is also challenging the Office for maintaining Mr. Ofori-Atta’s name and image on its wanted persons column on its website despite the OSP announcing that the former minister was no longer on its ‘Wanted’ list.
Interlocutory Injunction
While the suit was pending, Mr. Ofori-Atta filed a motion for interlocutory injunction seeking to restrain the OSP from declaring him wanted and fugitive from justice.
He was also asking the court to order the OSP to remove previous declarations from its social media platforms, among other reliefs.
Although the OSP removed Mr. Ofori-Atta from its list of wanted persons on February 18, 2025, the Office on June 2, 2025, re-declared Mr. Ofori-Atta wanted and a fugitive from justice for failing to meet its deadline to report in person in connection with corruption and corruption-related investigations.
The Office also triggered processes for the issuance of an Interpol Red Notice of the location and provisional arrest of Mr. Ofori-Atta in whichever jurisdiction.
On June 5, 2025, Interpol placed Mr. Ofori-Atta on the Red Notice and said he is wanted on the charge of using public office for profit.
Ruling
Justice Amoako based his ruling on the time-tested three requirements for the grant of interlocutory injunction: whether there is a serious question to be tried, irreparable harm that cannot be remedied by award of damages, and the balance of convenience.
On the first requirement, the judge observed that Mr. Ofori-Atta raised several issues in his substantive motion and the OSP has responded copiously to same, therefore there are questions to be tried.
The court found as untenable, the OSP’s claim that the applicant has not raised a substantial question or issue to be tried, adding that the determination of the substantive motion will determine the issues raised, and will determine whether those human rights violation claims are genuine or not.
On the second requirement, the court held that Mr. Ofori-Atta did not show that irreparable damage would be done to him that cannot be remedied by the award of damages against the OSP, adding that Mr. Ofori-Atta’s decision to seek damages as one of the reliefs in his originating motion is testament to the fact that any harm caused him could be compensated by the award of damages.
Justice Amoako also held that Mr. Ofori-Atta failed to mention what irreparable harm will befall him if the interlocutory injunction was not granted and he succeeds in the substantive motion.
Finally, the court held that the balance of convenience tilted in favour of the OSP given the fact that the former minister was able to endure between the period that he was placed on the wanted list and the time he was taken off it.
The judge added that granting the interlocutory injunction would thwart the operations of the OSP, and subsequently dismissed it.
A cost of GH¢5,000 was awarded against Mr. Ofori-Atta in favour of the OSP. The substantive case was adjourned to July 15, 2025 for hearing.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak