You can go to heaven and come back you’ll be arrested and prosecuted – Mustapha Gbande to Ofori-Atta

His comment follows a press conference held by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) on Wednesday, February 12, 2025 where Ken Ofori-Atta was declared a fugitive for allegedly failing to present himself for investigation in connection with suspected corruption cases.

A day prior to that, armed military officers raided the Cantonments residence of the former finance minister who is receiving treatment abroad.

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has condemned both the raid on the ex-minister’s home and the OSP’s declaration of him as a fugitive.

At a press conference in Accra on Thursday, February 13, 2025, the National Organiser of the NPP, Henry Nana Boakye, criticised the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, for failing to go the extra mile to interview former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, as was done in the Airbus scandal case.

However, in an interview with Joy News, monitored by GhanaWeb, Mustapha Gbande, who is also the Deputy Director of Operations at the Presidency, stated that no amount of criticism would stop the government from ensuring the arrest of Ken Ofori-Atta.

“I won’t sit here to discuss the grounds on which National Security should or should not conduct an operation. If you go to the National Security Secretariat, the majority of those who work there are military and police officers. So if you are going to carry out an operation and you use military officers, and people who ran down this country yesterday are now making noise at their party headquarters, it shouldn’t deter the nation. The most important thing is that Ken Ofori-Atta can go to heaven and come down, but he will be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed. No amount of noise will stop it, in whichever form or shape,” he stated.

When asked what wrongdoing Ken Ofori-Atta had committed to warrant a raid on his house, Gbande responded:

“He was the holder of the public purse, and the public purse has been misused. Are you not aware that the NPP government misused state funds? Are you not aware that they stole money? Are you not aware that every cheque that went to a contractor of a government institution where funds were misused came from Ken Ofori-Atta? Are you not aware that the SML deal was a scandal? The state can arrest you in a Rambo-style operation, they can choose to invite you, or they can choose to take you out for a party—National Security chose to act in this way. Now, for those questioning why soldiers were used, during President Akufo-Addo’s regime, soldiers were even used as drivers.”

The Deputy General Secretary of the NDC and Deputy Director of Operations at the Presidency, Mustapha Gbande, has stated that “Ken Ofori-Atta can go to heaven and come back, but he will be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed.” He added that no amount of noise will prevent this from… pic.twitter.com/uDWixQLjSK

— SIKAOFFICIAL🦍 (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) February 13, 2025