The United States has granted permanent residency to Ghana’s former finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, his lawyer announced Tuesday, ending months of legal uncertainty after his arrest by immigration authorities.
Ofori-Atta, 66, has lived in the US since January 2025, where he underwent medical treatment including prostate cancer surgery. In January this year, however, he was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while seeking to extend his stay. His attorneys stressed that the arrest was linked to his immigration status, not his legal troubles in Ghana.
Ghanaian authorities had declared Ofori-Atta a fugitive in February 2025 and later charged him with corruption in November. Despite this, his attorney Justice Kusi-Minkah Premo confirmed that the US Immigration Court approved his Green Card application, ruling that “the criminal charges in Ghana [were] not credible."
The court’s decision, he added, focused strictly on whether Ofori-Atta met the requirements for permanent residency.
Ofori-Atta served as Ghana’s finance minister from 2017 to 2024 under former president Nana Akufo-Addo, overseeing controversial tax reforms and IMF negotiations. His successor, President John Mahama, has launched a sweeping anti-corruption drive, though critics argue it disproportionately targets political opponents.
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