The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has chastised Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and his team for not rising to the defence of the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng.
This follows public and institutional backlash over the alleged inability of the Office of the Special Prosecutor to successfully prosecute a single case since it was set up.
Last week, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin said the creation of the OSP was an act in futility.
Speaking during the consideration of the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values bill 2021, the Speaker of Parliament stressed that the office would not achieve any results in the fight against corruption.
The comments by the Speaker comes weeks after the Commissioner of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Colonel Kwadwo Damoah (retired), described Mr. Agybeng as a ‘small boy’ for attempting to indict him and the Deputy Commissioner of Operations of the GRA in an investigative report involving Labianca Company Limited.
Touching on this, the PPP in a press statement said converting the Office of the Special Prosecutor into that of the Attorney General will help in the fight against corruption and command the respect needed by Mr. Agyebeng.
“As a Party, we sympathise with the Special Prosecutor, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng. Competent as he is, he finds himself between a rock and a hard place. The Constitution says, to be President one must be 40 years and above, yet a 43-year-old Oldman is called a “small boy” and the Information Minister and his communication team, sit silently on the fence as the Office is bastardized and taken to the cleaners. We infer from the lack of defence to mean a state-sponsored bastardisation of the OSP,” part of the statement stressed.
The party added that when voted for in 2024, it will amend Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution to separate the Attorney General from the Minister of Justice to enable the State successfully fight corruption head on.
Below is the full statement by the PPP
CONVERT THE OFFICE OF THE OSP TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
The Progressive People’s Party (PPP), has since 2012 championed the proposal for decoupling the Attorney General from the Minister of Justice as the only way to successfully win the fight against corruption. The Party has asked for an amendment of Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution.
Until that is done, there is no way the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) can effectively work to deal with issues of corruption.
As a Party, we sympathise with the Special Prosecutor, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng. Competent as he is, he finds himself between a rock and a hard place. The Constitution says, to be President one must be 40 years and above, yet a 43-year-old Oldman is called a “small boy” and the Information Minister and his communication team, sit silently on the fence as the Office is bastardized and taken to the cleaners. We infer from the lack of defence to mean a state-sponsored bastardisation of the OSP.
We are clearly in agreement with those echoing the PPP’s long-held position of a total separation of the Minister of Justice from the Attorney General. Attorney General for the people and the Minister of Justice as an advisor to the President. Hence, we ask for the separation of the two and convert the OSP to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).
The powers of the OSP are unfortunately embedded in the Minister of Justice and Attorney General as per the OSP (Act 2017), Act 959 that created the Office. The OSP has been seeded some powers of the AG which is, in itself, problematic.
The OSP has been used to fulfil a propaganda campaign message just to deceive Ghanaians into believing something is being done about corruption. This new Attorney General Office (AGO) must have a budget that is built on the percentage of the National Budget. Access to its funding must be enshrined in the constitution.
Martin Amidu to Kissi Agyabeng have all cried about the lack of funding to carry out their functions. The control of the Executive on an institution set up to fight corruption for which Political appointees are often subject matters of investigations is not a healthy system.
The PPP holds the belief that, within the context of the broader narrative, if given the power to govern in the 2024 general elections, within three months into the PPP Administration, Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution will be amended to separate the Attorney General from the Minister of Justice to enable the State successfully fight corruption head on.
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