The United States government has granted permanent residency to Ghana’s fugitive former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, concluding a high-stakes legal battle after he was arrested by American immigration authorities.

A U.S. immigration court approved Ofori-Atta’s I-485 Green Card petition, with the presiding judge explicitly noting that the corruption charges leveled against him by the current Ghanaian government were “not credible.” His defense attorney, Justice Kusi-Minkah Premo, emphasized that while the court’s review focused primarily on meeting the statutory requirements for adjustment of status, the ruling deals a significant blow to the political narrative surrounding his client back home.

The 66-year-old former minister has been residing in the United States since January 2025, where he originally traveled to undergo advanced medical treatment, including surgery for prostate cancer. His situation took a dramatic turn in January 2026 when agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested him at a detention facility in Virginia for overstaying his visa, an issue that arose while he was actively trying to regularize his stay and extend his medical leave.

In Ghana, the administration of President John Mahama has pursued an aggressive anti-corruption campaign, declaring Ofori-Atta a fugitive in February 2025 and later hitting him with a 78-count indictment. The charges allege widespread procurement violations and causing a financial loss of GH¢1.4 billion to the state during his tenure as finance minister from 2017 to 2024 under former President Nana Akufo-Addo.

Ofori-Atta’s legal team has consistently maintained that the prosecution is a coordinated political witch hunt, expressing deep skepticism regarding the independence of Ghana’s judiciary under the current regime.

Despite the immigration court’s favorable ruling, the Ghanaian Prosecutor’s Office has stated it has “taken note” of the decision but insists the fight is not over. Ghanaian authorities clarified that the permanent residency status does not nullify their standing judicial proceedings or their active extradition requests. They argued that because Ofori-Atta retains his Ghanaian citizenship, his potential repatriation remains a matter for a separate U.S. extradition court to decide, independent of the administrative relief granted by the immigration judge.