Private legal practitioner and National Democratic Congress (NDC) communications team member, Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, has advised the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to maintain focus and avoid reacting to public pressure in the conduct of its investigations.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue on Saturday, November 22, 2025, Samoa said that the confusion surrounding former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta’s INTERPOL Red Notice could have been avoided if the OSP had refrained from engaging the public before completing its investigative docket.
“If your investigations are not complete, they are not complete,” he said. “When you move before you are ready, you fuel unnecessary public discussions about motives. Nobody can push you to do something premature.”
His comments follow recent reports suggesting that INTERPOL had withdrawn the Red Notice request submitted by the OSP regarding Mr. Ofori-Atta. The reports claimed the withdrawal was linked to questions surrounding the basis of the OSP’s request, given that no formal charges had yet been filed against the former minister.
The OSP, however, clarified that the Red Notice had not been removed, stating that the matter remained under review.
But Samoa argued: “You end up having to explain and give your version that the Red Alert is still there and all that. But the point is simple — it is either the red alert is operational or not.”
He added that while all suspects are presumed innocent under the law, some individuals attract heightened public interest due to the significance of their cases.
“We are dealing with a suspect who is literally the crown jewel of all the investigations you are doing,” he said. “Unless you are done with your investigations, you do not move. Nobody should push you into acting when you are not ready.”
Samoa urged the OSP to develop the discipline to ignore public commentary that may seek to influence its work.
“You should learn how to ignore some of these comments from the public,” he advised. “Avoid the urge to react to everything that is said. You must learn how to close your ears to investigative pressure.”
