AG to Hold Talks with U.S. Justice Department on Extradition Cases
Attorney General Dominic Ayine is set to meet officials of the United States Department of Justice for bilateral discussions on pending extradition requests between the two countries. The meeting, is expected to speed up efforts to bring back individuals who have fled Ghanaian justice.
The announcement came the same day Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, convicted in absentia in April 2024, arrived in Accra after a two year extradition process to begin serving her sentence.
Several high profile cases remain in the pipeline. The most prominent is that of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta, who faces corruption charges linked to government contracts, including the GH¢125 million Ghana Revenue Authority deal with Strategic Mobilisation Limited, the $400 million National Cathedral Project, ambulance procurement, and electricity company contracts. The Office of the Special Prosecutor formally charged him in November 2025.
Ofori Atta travelled to the U.S. in early 2025 for medical treatment. By January 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him in Washington, D.C., and he has since been held at the Caroline Detention Facility in Virginia. He faces two separate proceedings, one on alleged immigration violations and another on Ghana’s formal extradition request.
Also facing extradition complications is Ernest Darko Akore, Ofori Atta’s former technical adviser. Akore left Ghana in November 2024 for New York. He holds both U.S. and Ghanaian passports, making his case more complex since U.S. citizens cannot simply be deported. The U.S. Department of Justice has sought advice from Ghana’s OSP on whether to arrest him before serving a summons or to serve the summons first.
In the opposite direction is the case of Frederick Kumi, also known as Abu Trica. He was arrested in Ghana in December 2025 after a joint operation by the FBI and Ghanaian security agencies. U.S. prosecutors allege he ran an $8 million romance fraud network using fake online identities, including AI generated photos and voices, to defraud elderly Americans. A High Court ruling on whether to surrender him to U.S. Marshals is expected on June 11, 2026.
Legal analysts say the planned bilateral meeting marks a shift in approach, as all pending Ghana U.S. extradition requests will be discussed together rather than case by case. This could considerably shorten timelines for future surrenders and strengthen cooperation between the two countries.
