Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu says a public alert could have stopped former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta from leaving the country.
He believes the Special Prosecutor failed to act when it mattered most. He said the Office should have informed the nation when attempts to block the travel were ignored by security agencies.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, Martin Kpebu said he had been invited only to clarify comments he had made.
The vociferous lawyer said, “To be clear, I’m not being investigated for any offence at all. But rather, I’ve made some comments, and he says I should come and clarify.”
He said the Office wanted “some evidence to back that, to help the corruption fight.”
Mr Kpebu said the most important comment was about the Special Prosecutor’s admission.
He said the Special Prosecutor had confessed that Ken Ofori-Atta wrote to the incoming and outgoing Chiefs of Staff before travelling. He said the Special Prosecutor intercepted the letter.
According to Mr Kpebu, the Special Prosecutor then ran to the National Investigations Bureau but “didn’t get help,” and then ran to National Security but “didn’t get help there too,” and finally went to the Ghana Immigration Service but “still didn’t get help.”
He said this was a major indictment of all three institutions.
Martin Kpebu said that was a separate argument, but the real failure was what the Special Prosecutor did not do.
He said it “didn’t occur to the man who had done the ‘Ankwanuma’ press conference, that he should blow the whistle.”
The private legal practitioner said the Special Prosecutor should have held a press conference to alert the country.
He said the Special Prosecutor should have said: “‘Hey, people of Ghana, I’ve clear evidence Mr Ofori-Atta is about to travel out of Ghana and I’ve gone to these institutions, but they are not helping me.’”
Mr Kpebu said a public alarm would have triggered immediate action. He said, “You know how many people would have taken steps to the airport to prevent him from travelling?”
The lawyer said he was part of the ORAL team at the time, and they were working and had people with authority.
“We had security capos like Kofi Boakye was on the ORAL team as well. And there were people in the back room, [who could have helped].”
Martin Kpebu insisted that a simple alert could have changed everything and believes the former Minister’s exit could have been stopped if the Special Prosecutor had informed the public.