Deputy Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, Elikem Kotoko, says he fully supports Parliament’s proposal to scrap the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), insisting the office has failed in its purpose.
Speaking on Prime Insight on Joy Prime on Saturday, December 6, during discussions on the arrest and detention of lawyer Martin Kpebu and the broader debate over the future of the OSP, Mr Kotoko said events in recent years had vindicated those who always questioned the need for the office.
“I support Parliament fully that we should scrap that office, and I have maintained. Because in the NDC, for instance, it has been maintained that there was no need for that office.”
Mr Kotoko argued that the arrest of private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu was the final confirmation that the OSP had outlived its usefulness.
“What he did with Martin Kpebu was the last straw to break the camel’s back… one would have thought that he, being a lawyer, would have been wise enough to know that what happened there was a no-no,” he said.
He claimed that fear of the OSP had silenced many people who should ordinarily speak up.
“The reason why many even fear talking about him now is that a lot of people feel they may have some cobwebs in their wardrobe. So they don’t want to go after Kissi Agyeben,” he noted.
Mr. Kotoko attributed the institution’s challenges to the previous administration led by President Nana Akufo-Addo.
“I’ll put the whole blame on the head of former President Nana Akufo-Addo… the purpose for setting up that institution was never well intended. It was intended to hound people of the past who they thought were so corrupt,” he said.
According to him, the resignation of the first Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, exposed what he called a “mischievous mission”.
“That should tell you there was a certain mischievous mission that was being perpetrated… to the extent that the person fighting corruption had to come and make us know that our president is not only a failed leader but a very corrupt one who could be equated to a mother serpent of corruption.”
Mr Kotoko also criticised the current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, for showing what he described as a lack of courage.
“Kissi Agyeben has proven to be a coward. After the NPP had left power, he now came out to be telling us that, and that at the moment there was nothing he could do. Well, we agree. But why couldn’t he at least have mentioned it or even resigned?
“Maybe he was enjoying the benefits of the office, for which reason it made it very difficult for him to resign, and so he wanted to still hold on, believing that when the next government comes, he will do that and now engage in a vendetta.”
He said that the Special Prosecutor’s complaints about political interference came too late.
“What stopped him from updating us? The numerous press conferences he kept holding, just like the minority…. they are in a competition of press conferences, and he could not, in those times, tell us anything about the factors that are militating against the smooth running of his office until when the NPP left power.
“Until we all know the mother serpent had lost power before he felt that he could not be bitten anymore by the snake.”
“He should then still tell us that, based on A B C D, at the time, there was no way. He could not, in those times, tell us anything about the factors that were militating against the smooth running of his office until the NPP left power,” he added.
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