Ghana’s Parliament says the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) is not getting the required support to fight corruption in the country.
According to a report from the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee on the budgetary estimates for the OSP, there ought to be an all-hands-on-deck approach to fight the canker.
The report signed by the Committee Chair, Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi admonished the Special Prosecutor to “develop the proper strategies, broad sensitisation and an all-inclusive approach in the fight against corruption and corruption-related offences.”
The committee also observed in its report that after a deep-throated interaction with the OSP, it was established that the “Office is not getting the required institutional support in the fight against corruption in the country.”
The report also recommended the House approve the total sum of GH¢149 million for the services of the Office of the Special Prosecutor for the year ending December 31, 2024.
During the debate ahead of the approval of the budgetary estimates for the OSP, the Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, charged the Special Prosecutor not to give up on his work.
He indicated, “We need to support the Special Prosecutor. This is the first time a government has boldly walked a political talk from the manifesto into bringing an enactment to give it the life that it needs. Let’s encourage the Special Prosecutor to do his work. And Mr. Speaker, as a practitioner in our courts… I would want to encourage the Special Prosecutor never to give up. I would want to encourage the office to strengthen itself with the limited resources that it gets, move through the court system, and get the court to appreciate its work.”
Earlier, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin said the creation of the OSP was an act in futility and insisted that the Attorney General’s department should rather be decoupled from the Ministry of Justice.
“As for the law you passed on the establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor, I did tell you that it was an act in futility, you were not going to achieve anything but you went ahead and passed it,” he said.
About the Office of the Special Prosecutor
Established in 2018, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) stands as Ghana’s premier anti-corruption institution, adhering to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption standards. Tasked with investigating and prosecuting cases of suspected corruption in both public and private sectors, the OSP aims to recover proceeds from illicit activities, prevent corruption, and address inadequacies in existing anti-corruption agencies.
Distinguished by its comprehensive approach, the OSP possesses investigative, prosecutorial, intelligence gathering, surveillance, counter-surveillance, police, national security, and revenue-generating powers. The legal foundation for its authority is rooted in the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959), complemented by the Office of the Special Prosecutor Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2373), and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2374), along with other relevant anti-corruption laws.
The OSP’s jurisdiction extends beyond its own initiatives, as it responds to referrals from various entities, including Parliament, the Auditor-General, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the Economic and Organised Crime Office, and other public institutions. Furthermore, the OSP is open to receiving and addressing complaints from private entities and individuals.
