Inusah Fuseini explains why US judge's comments on Ofori-Atta carry no legal weight

Former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Abdulai Bistav Fuseini, has argued that a United States immigration judge has no jurisdiction to make pronouncements on the criminal case involving former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta in Ghana.

Speaking on NewsFile on JoyNews, monitored by GhanaWeb on July 25, 2026, he maintained that the US judge was sitting as an immigration judge and not as a judge hearing a criminal case against the former finance minister.

According to him, the proceedings before the US court were solely intended to determine Ofori-Atta's immigration status after he sought to regularise his stay in the United States.

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"The judge did not have the benefit of the criminal case before him. He was sitting as an immigration judge... For a judge to look at affidavit evidence submitted in support of an immigration application and make a conclusive pronouncement on a criminal matter pending before the Ghanaian courts is totally out of jurisdiction," he said.

Fuseini stressed that criminal jurisdiction is territorial, arguing that the US court could not determine the merits of a criminal prosecution taking place in Ghana.

"The judge clearly in America has no jurisdiction over the criminal trial that is happening in Ghana. Criminal jurisdiction is territorial, except in limited cases provided for by treaty or convention," he stated.

Fuseini also urged Ghanaians not to attach excessive significance to the immigration judge's remarks, noting that the ruling was made within the context of an immigration proceeding rather than a criminal trial.

His comments follow the release of a June 15, 2026 ruling by US Immigration Judge David Gardey, who questioned the strength of the corruption case brought against Ofori-Atta by Ghana's Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

In his ruling approving Ofori-Atta's permanent residency application, Judge Gardey stated that the OSP's affidavit was "full of conclusory allegations" and failed to provide "credible or reliable facts" demonstrating criminal conduct.

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