Ken Ofori-Atta in US Immigration custody
8th January 2026
Former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is currently in the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following concerns raised about his immigration documentation, his lawyers have revealed.
In a carefully worded statement, his legal team said Mr Ofori-Atta is engaging openly with US immigration officials as efforts are made to quickly clarify and regularise his stay.
The lawyers explained that the former minister has already filed an application to adjust his immigration status — a routine legal pathway under US law that permits individuals to remain in the country after their initial visa has expired, pending a final decision.
They expressed optimism that the process will be concluded in a timely manner.
This immigration episode comes at a sensitive moment in Mr Ofori-Atta’s life, as he has been in the United States since January 2025 to address serious medical concerns.
He is receiving treatment after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, a condition that was confirmed in March 2025 following extensive scans and a biopsy that revealed advancing disease.
In response to the diagnosis, Mr Ofori-Atta underwent a major surgical procedure — a radical prostatectomy — on June 13 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Medical professionals reportedly deemed the operation urgent after detecting increased cancer activity within the prostate. Sources close to the family say he had been under strict medical monitoring for weeks before the surgery.
Compounding his health challenges, Mr Ofori-Atta continues to live with post-COVID Multi-System Inflammatory Response Syndrome, first diagnosed in February 2021, which has required long-term medical care and periodic assessment.
Mr Ofori-Atta served as Ghana’s Finance Minister between 2017 and 2023, a tenure defined by unprecedented economic headwinds, including the COVID-19 pandemic, rising debt levels and negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.
Meanwhile, his prolonged stay abroad has coincided with ongoing legal proceedings in Ghana. In November 2025, the Office of the Special Prosecutor formally charged him and others with corruption and related offences.
The case is presently at the case management conference stage.
His legal team stressed that Mr Ofori-Atta has at all times acted within the bounds of the law and remains committed to resolving his immigration situation in the United States, even as he focuses on recovery and ongoing medical treatment.