The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has called for the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to be entrenched in Ghana’s constitution to strengthen its independence and effectiveness.
He argued that granting full constitutional recognition to the OSP would eliminate recurring questions about its legitimacy and allow it to carry out its anti-corruption mandate more decisively.
Making a presentation before the Constitutional Review Committee on Friday, April 25, Mr Agyebeng said, “Every now and then, there is a question on whether it is constitutional or otherwise,” he noted.
“Writing the OSP into the constitution, giving it that full prosecutorial independence — notwithstanding the formulation in Article 88 — allows the OSP to have its own prosecutorial power in respect of anti-corruption, kills the argument, and gives it the free range to be able to carry out its mandate and function.”
Mr. Agyebeng also criticised the current arrangement where aspects of the OSP’s prosecutorial powers are ceded from the Attorney-General’s Department, describing it as inadequate for an institution tasked with confronting corruption head-on.
He maintained that the OSP remains the only institution capable of tackling corruption independently, and a constitutional backing would further insulate it from political interference.
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