The Director of Strategy, Research and Communication at the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), Samuel Darko, has publicly challenged claims by lawyers for former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, intensifying debate over the international handling of the high-profile case.
His comments follow reports on Friday, February 13, that Interpol had deleted the Red Notice issued against Mr Ofori-Atta. In a statement headlined “Red Notice Against Ken Ofori-Atta Deleted Permanently: Interpol Does Not Endorse Political Persecution,” the former minister’s lead counsel, Justice Kusi-Minkah Premo, said the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) had formally communicated the decision to their client.
According to the lawyers, the CCF ruled at its 135th Session on February 4, 2026, that the Red Notice appeared “predominantly political in character,” was not compliant with INTERPOL’s rules, and should therefore be permanently deleted from its system.
However, Mr Darko has cast doubt on how the decision is being interpreted publicly. In a pointed Facebook post, he asked the former minister’s lawyers to indicate the specific page or paragraph where the quotation attributed verbatim to INTERPOL could be found, suggesting the statement may be misleading.
The dispute arises amid ongoing investigations by the Office of the Special Prosecutor into alleged financial and procurement-related irregularities during Mr Ofori-Atta’s tenure as finance minister between 2017 and 2024. INTERPOL Red Notices are governed by strict rules, including Article 3 of its Constitution, which bars the organisation from involvement in matters of a political nature.
Legal analysts note that once a suspect has been located and arrested, as reportedly happened to Mr Ofori-Atta in the United States in January 2026, extradition proceedings proceed independently of a Red Notice. The OSP maintains that its actions are evidence-based and in line with due process, with Mr Darko’s comments underscoring concerns about accuracy and documentation in the public narrative surrounding the case.
As extradition proceedings continue in the United States, attention is expected to focus both on the substance of the allegations and on procedural disputes over how INTERPOL’s decision is being characterised.
