Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng has alleged that some public officers are coordinating attacks against the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in an effort to weaken the institution or have it abolished.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr Agyebeng said the resistance was largely linked to the OSP’s independent mandate to investigate corruption and determine which cases and individuals fall within its jurisdiction.
He acknowledged that the OSP had made mistakes in the course of its work but said the institution had reviewed its shortcomings and taken steps to address them.
“We acknowledge that we have made mistakes. We do not claim to be a perfect institution,” he said.
Mr Agyebeng argued that ordinary mistakes by a public institution could not justify calls for its dissolution.
“If the basis of collapsing a public agency is that the entity in question committed common mistakes in the ordinary course of its work, then every public institution in Ghana should immediately be shut down,” he said.
According to the Special Prosecutor, an internal assessment of the criticisms directed at the OSP suggested that the attacks went beyond legitimate scrutiny.
“Our introspection leads us to conclude rather startlingly… that the coordinated attacks against the OSP to shut it down or at least render it ineffectual are largely traceable to what the office stands for and its powers and functions,” he said.
He identified the OSP’s independence in selecting corruption cases for investigation and its prosecutorial authority as particular sources of concern among some public officials.
“These functions and powers of the OSP represent such a spectrum of discomfort among some public officers that they would rather see the office abolished,” Mr Agyebeng said.
He maintained that the OSP remained receptive to legitimate criticism but would resist attempts to undermine its mandate or compromise its ability to independently investigate corruption.
