BY Daniel Bampoe
Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) legal team, Godwin Edudzi Tamekloe, has strongly criticised the recent ruling by a United States Immigration Court in favour of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, describing the decision as an unacceptable intrusion into the judicial sovereignty.
Reacting to the widely circulated transcript of the June 15, 2026 proceedings before the Annandale Immigration Court in Virginia, Godwin Edudzi argued that the American judge exceeded his jurisdiction by making pronouncements on criminal charges that are currently pending before Ghanaian courts.
According to the NPA boss, while the U.S. court had jurisdiction to determine Ofori-Atta’s immigration status under American law, it had no constitutional or legal authority to assess the credibility of criminal charges that have been properly filed before a competent court in Ghana.
“The US Immigration Judge has no power to pronounce on charges filed in a Ghanaian court,” Edudzi stated, adding that he had personally studied the court proceedings before reaching his conclusion.
The comments come after Immigration Judge David A. Gardey reportedly granted Ofori-Atta’s application for adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence in the United States.
During the immigration proceedings, the judge questioned the evidentiary basis of the allegations presented by Ghana’s Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) within the context of that immigration case and ultimately granted the former Finance Minister’s application.
The ruling immediately generated widespread political and legal debate in Ghana, with supporters of Ofori-Atta describing it as a vindication of his long-standing claim that the prosecution against him is politically motivated. His legal team has argued that both the deletion of the INTERPOL Red Notice and the U.S. immigration court’s findings demonstrate weaknesses in the OSP’s case.
However, Godwin Edudzi rejected that interpretation, insisting that an immigration court in another jurisdiction cannot determine the validity of criminal proceedings pending before Ghana’s independent judiciary.
“This ruling by the US judge is clear judicial waywardness,” he stated.
According to him, it is unacceptable for a foreign court to pronounce that criminal charges filed before a Ghanaian court lack credibility, stressing that such comments undermine the authority and independence of Ghana’s judicial institutions.
“A US judge can sit in his court and declare charges filed in a Ghanaian court as lacking credibility. This colonial mindset must not be encouraged,” he argued.
Edudzi Tamakloe maintained that Ghana possesses a competent and independent judicial system capable of determining whether charges filed by the Office of the Special Prosecutor are supported by sufficient evidence.
He explained that once the OSP has filed criminal charges, it is the responsibility of the Ghanaian courts—not foreign tribunals—to determine whether the prosecution has established a prima facie case, whether the evidence is sufficient, and ultimately whether the accused is guilty or innocent.
“The OSP has filed charges. If the charges are not credible, the Ghanaian judicial system has the skill set to fix it,” he stated.
The NPA Chief Executive further argued that the United States Immigration Court has no supervisory jurisdiction over Ghana’s courts and therefore should not be viewed as an appellate body capable of reviewing decisions taken by Ghanaian prosecutorial authorities.
“The US court does not have supervisory authority over the Ghanaian courts. This should not be tolerated,” he added.
The controversy stems from the ongoing prosecution of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who has been charged by the Office of the Special Prosecutor over several transactions undertaken during his tenure in office, including the Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) revenue assurance contract, National Cathedral payments, the ECG-BXC contract termination, ambulance procurement and the management of the Tax Refund Account.
After travelling to the United States in January 2025 for medical treatment, Ofori-Atta became the subject of investigations by the OSP, which later declared him wanted, secured an INTERPOL Red Notice that was subsequently deleted by the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files, and initiated extradition proceedings to secure his return to Ghana.
While Ofori-Atta continues to challenge those efforts through legal proceedings in the United States, the Office of the Special Prosecutor has consistently maintained that the immigration proceedings do not determine the merits of the criminal prosecution pending before the High Court in Accra.
The OSP has argued that only Ghanaian courts have the constitutional authority to decide whether the former Finance Minister is guilty or innocent of the offences for which he has been charged.
