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The United States government has clarified that although it is open to extradition requests from Ghana, the process is rarely swift due to well-established legal procedures that must be followed.
Speaking at a media roundtable in Accra, the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to Ghana, Rolf Olson, explained that extradition requests are subject to strict judicial and administrative protocols on the American side, making them “generally not very quick.”
His comments were made during discussions with visiting Deputy Assistant Secretary for West Africa at the U.S. Department of State, William B. Stevens, amid growing public interest in the extradition of high-profile Ghanaian suspects from the United States.
Mr. Olson noted that while the U.S. is always open to receiving extradition requests, no case can be prejudged. According to him, American judges ultimately decide whether an extradition request is approved or rejected, following a thorough legal evaluation.
The clarification comes at a time when questions have been raised over why former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who has been declared wanted by Ghana’s Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), has not yet been extradited. Mr. Ofori-Atta is facing a 78-count indictment alleging corruption and financial loss to the state and is currently standing trial in absentia.
The OSP has told the court that although some accused persons are outside Ghana and have cited health reasons for their absence, it has activated relevant legal mechanisms, including international cooperation, to secure their appearance.
Public pressure has also mounted, with more than 3,100 people signing a petition addressed to the U.S. Embassy in Accra, demanding Mr. Ofori-Atta’s extradition. The petition, initiated by U.S.-based Ghanaian professor Stephen Kweku Asare, calls on American authorities to assist in locating the former minister and fast-track any formal extradition request.
Responding to whether the U.S. government is willing to cooperate, Mr. Olson stressed that once a request is received, it goes through established processes that cannot be rushed.
“The door is always open to requests, but the evaluation process on the American side is very well-established and it is generally not very quick,” he said.
Despite the lengthy nature of the process, U.S. authorities have successfully extradited nine Ghanaians in 2025 alone, most of them linked to romance scams and other transnational crimes, underscoring ongoing cooperation between Ghanaian and American law enforcement agencies.
