President John Dramani Mahama has called on former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to return to Ghana and face the legal processes surrounding the investigations involving him.

Speaking on the process of extraditing fugitives during his Resetting Ghana Tour in the Volta Region today, Mr. Mahama explained that bringing a person back from another country is a legal matter that must follow international procedures and respect the rights of the individual.

He noted that extradition can only take place if Ghana has an extradition treaty with the country where the individual is staying.

According to him, the requesting country must file an application, after which the person has the right to challenge the request before a judge.

“The person has the right to take a lawyer, go before a judge, and if he doesn’t want to come, he can argue against coming,” the President stated.

Mr. Mahama disclosed that the Attorney General’s Department has already filed an extradition application and is submitting additional documents requested by the relevant authorities.

He added that the matter will eventually be determined by an American judge, who will decide whether Mr. Ofori-Atta should be returned to Ghana.

The President appealed directly to the former Finance Minister to return voluntarily.

Recalling events during Mr. Ofori-Atta’s tenure in office, Mr. Mahama referred to a period when more than 80 Members of Parliament from the then governing New Patriotic Party called for his removal.

He noted that the former minister had responded by saying he was like a father who could not abandon his children.

Drawing on that statement, the President urged him to come back to Ghana.

“We are begging you, Father, come back. Your children are calling you to come back,” Mr. Mahama remarked.

He questioned why someone who believes he has done nothing wrong would leave the country, adding that the legal process should be allowed to take its course.

Mr. Mahama, however, stressed that the matter remains before the courts and will proceed according to the law.

By: Jacob Aggrey

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has condemned the one-year prison sentence handed to Madam Camilla Alhassan by the Accra Circuit Court, describing the conviction as a threat to free speech and constitutional democracy in Ghana.

In a statement issued on July 16, 2026, and signed by the party’s General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, the NPP said it was shocked by the court’s decision to convict and sentence Madam Alhassan for offensive conduct over comments she made online about President John Dramani Mahama.

The party argued that imprisoning a citizen over comments made in the exercise of free expression raises serious constitutional concerns, insisting that freedom of speech is protected under Article 21 of the 1992 Constitution.

According to the NPP, if the President believed he had been defamed, the appropriate remedy should have been a civil defamation suit rather than criminal prosecution.

The statement accused the state of using the police, the Attorney General and the courts to punish a citizen for expressing an opinion, adding that such actions could discourage Ghanaians from freely expressing their views.

The NPP criticised the treatment of Madam Alhassan during the court proceedings and after her conviction.

It described the manner in which she was handled by security officers as dehumanising and said it undermined the dignity of the individual and public confidence in law enforcement.

The party called on the Ghana Police Service to uphold the Constitution and protect the rights of citizens rather than become an instrument of intimidation.

It further appealed to civil society organisations, the Ghana Bar Association, the media and human rights groups to speak against what it described as the criminalisation of free expression.

The NPP urged the National Peace Council to encourage the government to uphold constitutional freedoms, while calling on the diplomatic community and Ghana’s international partners to continue supporting democratic values and the protection of civil liberties in the country.

The party announced that it would support an immediate appeal against Madam Alhassan’s conviction and sentence.

It pledged to stand with her and her legal team to pursue every lawful avenue to challenge the ruling.

The NPP maintained that Ghana must not return to a period where citizens fear expressing their views, stressing that it would continue to defend the constitutional rights of Ghanaians to speak freely and hold those in authority accountable.

By: Jacob Aggrey