Ofori-Atta’s Situation Is Sad and Embarrassing – Sulemana Braimah

The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has described the circumstances surrounding the reported detention of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta as both sad and embarrassing, considering his public standing and professional background.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile, Mr Braimah said the development represents a painful fall from grace for a man who was once highly regarded in Ghana’s financial and investment circles.

He noted that Ofori-Atta was well known and respected long before the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo came into office.

“I think the situation that Ken Ofori-Atta finds himself in is certainly very sad. This is someone we knew even before the NPP and before Nana Akufo-Addo came to power,” he said.

Mr Braimah recalled the former finance minister’s role in building Ghana’s investment culture through Databank, explaining that many Ghanaians were first introduced to investing through the firm and its financial products.

According to him, it is deeply disturbing that someone with such a professional legacy has ended up in his current circumstances.

“To now find himself in the situation he is in is a very, very sad development. But not only sad; I think it is also very embarrassing,” he added.

Mr Braimah further described it as humiliating that a former finance minister, who served for nearly seven years, is reportedly living outside Ghana under questionable circumstances.

“It is embarrassing that a former finance minister ends up, under the pretext of medical treatment, having to live in another country — even under circumstances that he may not be permitted to be there,” he said.