Wife of Ghana’s former Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has for the first time waded into the controversies surrounding the absence of her husband from the country and his declaration as a fugitive of justice by the Office of the Special Persecutor, (OSP).
The wife, Professor Angela Ofori-Atta, in an interview to explain an earlier public statement she had issued on the said matter confirmed that Ken Ofori-Atta is currently in the United States where he recently had a successful surgery to treat prostate cancer.
Prof. Angela Ofori-Atta explained why the husband cannot and will not travel to Ghana at the moment:
“He has quite a bit of pain and he has to walk gingerly as it were, we have to make sure that his wounds do not get infected, so those are sort of the things one has to go through when one has surgery.
“I think they are expecting he would be much improved after a while when the wounds heal then there would be a period of about three months when the observation is going to happen and hopefully after three months, the recovery would be complete and that is if all goes well”, she explained.
According to Ken Ofori-Atta’s wife, he is not escaping accountability of because even when he served as Finance Minister he never shied away from being held accountable.
“The Ken that we all know does not run away from accountability. We know that through the censure. He talked to the public about his work, he has been to CHRAJ and he talked to the public about his work, this is not a Ken who runs away from accountability so I ask the public to remember when they heard him speak. He has not shied away from facing up to issues.”
She continued: “It is amazing that we have had to deal with cancer in the last year that this is the process that we have hopefully ensured that it does not spread. If I were to make the choice, I would make it again. I don’t know any wife or family that would send a loved one to respond to a Special Prosecutor when they are battling with cancer. I am sorry but these are the things we have to face, we have to get him well first and even through this stressful times, he has always said, let me respond to you by video, it is allowed. Let me do that so I am not the cause of delaying your investigations. He said that
“He has also said you can ask my lawyers the questions you want to ask me and we would respond and whatever information we have to give you, we will. So I just don’t understand what is going on there.”
All through the interview, Professor Angela Ofori-Atta insisted she would not comment on the legalities of why the OSP wanted Ken Ofori-Atta to be present himself in Ghana before the investigations can continue.
She said her uttermost priority is to ensure her husband fully recovers and her immediate focus is to let the world know that the surgery was successful. She promised that when the wounds fully heal and Ken Ofori-Atta is fit to travel, he would return to Ghana to answer whatever questions await him.
Professor Ofori-Atta did not hide her frustrations at the turn of events: “Well, I do not know that any country would extradite anyone who is not well. I know that when he is well and at the appropriate time we would come. But our lawyers are dealing with the notice.
“I myself as the wife of the man who has not been well, I myself do not understand how a prosecutor would do a red alert or cause as red alert to be done on someone who has constantly told you where he is, constantly told you what he is dealing with so for me, that is something that I don’t understand and I would like to focus on how we are managing all of that, how he is coping and how we can surround him with love and prayers and get him to feel and get better”, she stated.
