Josiah
Former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has been detained by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over concerns regarding the status of his stay in the country, his legal team has confirmed.
In a statement, his lawyers said Mr Ofori-Atta is cooperating fully with immigration officials while they work with the authorities to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
According to the statement, the former minister has a pending petition for adjustment of status—an immigration process that allows an individual to remain legally in the U.S. beyond the validity of an initial visa. His legal team described the situation as a routine procedural issue and expressed confidence that it would be resolved expeditiously.
The development comes amid ongoing health challenges that have kept Mr Ofori-Atta in the United States since January 2025.
He has been undergoing medical treatment following a diagnosis of prostate cancer. Medical information cited by family sources indicates that the diagnosis was confirmed in March 2025 after MRI scans and a biopsy detected signs of cancer progression.
Mr Ofori-Atta subsequently underwent a radical prostatectomy on Friday, June 13, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Doctors reportedly considered the surgery a critical intervention after tests suggested increased cancer activity within the prostate. Family sources say he had been receiving treatment and close monitoring for several weeks leading up to the procedure.
In addition to the prostate cancer diagnosis, Mr Ofori-Atta has also been managing a post-COVID multi-system inflammatory response syndrome—an ongoing condition first detected in February 2021—which continues to require medical oversight.
Mr Ofori-Atta served as Ghana’s Finance Minister from 2017 to 2023, a period marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, economic pressures, and negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.
His extended stay in the U.S. has coincided with legal proceedings back in Ghana. In November 2025, the Office of the Special Prosecutor charged him and several others with corruption-related offences, a case that is currently at the case management stage.
The statement from his legal team stressed that Mr Ofori-Atta remains a law-abiding individual and is committed to working with U.S. immigration authorities to regularise his status while continuing his medical recovery.
Source:Omanghana.com
