Ken’s Red Notice: INTERPOL’s decision can’t impact current court proceedings – Wonder Madilo
A member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) communications team, Wonder Madilo, has reacted to INTERPOL’s recent decision to delete its Red Notice for former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, arguing that the decision came a little too late to impact current court proceedings.
His comments follow an official notice from the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) on February 13, confirming that INTERPOL had been directed to delete a Red Notice issued for Ken Ofori-Atta at Ghana’s request, citing “contextual factors at the time of issuance, including polarized political statements from members of the current and former administrations about the conduct of the investigation.”
During an appearance on Joy News AM Show on Monday, February 16, Wonder Madilo explained that the timing of INTERPOL decision has rendered it essentially irrelevant to the current legal battle, as Ken Ofori-Atta has already been located and detained in the U.S.
“I think the INTERPOL’s release came rather too late. For me, it is of no consequence to the current issues before the court,” he said.
Madilo clarified that INTERPOL Red Notices have a limited scope in international law enforcement and are reserved for specific investigative purposes rather than judicial ones, noting that the decision by INTERPOL would have been valuable to the current case if Ofori-Atta’s location was unknown.
“The basic understanding of why an INTERPOL notice is issued is to locate and arrest, period. Locate where the person is and arrest,” he said. “At the current instance, we know where Ken is. He’s already even been arrested, or at a detention center or whatever of that sort, and so it’s coming in rather too late.”
“If in the US we didn’t have this situation where he’s already under some monitoring already or at the detention center, then this would have served a very good purpose for all of us,” he added.
Addressing suggestions that the OSP had failed to carry out its mandate, Madilo defended the agency’s handling of the matter. He maintained that the INTERPOL notice does not affect the substance of the case.
“I think it doesn’t affect the case in any way. INTERPOL was not a court to try anybody. It was only to locate and, you know, move you back to your jurisdiction to retry it. And therefore, if all that is out of the way now and the man is already in custody as it were, what’s the fuss about it?” Madilo questioned.
The former Finance Minister, who has been out of the country since January 2025, has been declared wanted by theOffice of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for several corruption-related investigations, including the infamous National Cathedral project, ambulance procurement deals, and other contracts, leading to an INTERPOL Red Notice.
He was however picked up by U.S. Immigration authorities over issues related to his immigration status on January 6, this year and appeared before a US immigration Judge in Virginia on January 20, in an in-camera hearing.
Ken Ofori-Atta has since remained in ICE custody, pending the outcome of his next court appearance on April 27, 2026.
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