The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin and Members of Parliament (MPs) have unanimously agreed to recommend the abolition of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
They said that since its establishment eight years ago, Parliament had approved huge budgets for the OSP, yet it had failed to show any achievement in terms of fighting corruption.
They were of the strong conviction that if the Attorney-General’s Department was adequately resourced, it would be equipped to curb corruption and prosecute corrupt government and public officials.
They, therefore, proposed the need for a private members’ bill to be initiated or the Executive sponsoring a bill for the House to work on for possible scrap of the OSP.
Why agreement?
The House agreed to the scrapping of the OSP after the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, informed the House about the arrest and detention of a private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, last Thursday.
He said Mr Kpebu had publicly criticised the manner in which the Special Prosecutor (SP), Kissi Agyebeng, was going about performing his functions.
He said Mr Kpebu was invited and at the entrance to the OSP, he sought to address the media, which was objected to by the security detail at the office.
With some altercation ensuing between Mr Kpebu and the security responsible for the building that housed the SP, OSP ordered that he should be detained.
He said it took the intervention of many Ghanaians on social media, as well as calls to the Special Prosecutor demanding the release of the legal practitioner.
“So Mr Speaker, so lawyer Martin Kpebu was subsequently released last night, but it raises fundamental issues about the very existence of that office,” he said.
‘I opposed OSP establishment’
He recalled vividly that when the proposal to establish the OSP was presented, he opposed it.
He said he took a position that the OSP was unconstitutional and stripped the Attorney-General (A-G) of the power to be responsible for the prosecution of criminal cases.
He said the fact that Parliament had to struggle and nuanced the whole Special Prosecutor’s process clearly betrayed the fact that “we knew we were doing something that did not sit well with our constitutional architecture”.
Let’s abolish OSP
He pointed out that the OSP had been in existence for over eight years now, but there was nothing to show for its achievements.
“I cannot see my way clear in terms of the achievement of that office and I have consistently held the position that fighting corruption is not about littering the place with institutions.
“It is the political commitment of those who lead that fight against corruption and not the designation of the institutions that have been established,” Mr Ayariga said.
He also said he believed that it was high time that Parliament reconsidered its decision to approve the establishment of the OSP.
“I honestly think we should abolish it because we have experimented with it and we cannot see any achievements.
“There are major cases of clear corruption, but up to date, the office has not been able to do anything,” he said.
Mr Ayariga argued that if the institution of the A-G, established by the constitution, was adequately resourced and protected by Parliament, as well as held accountable by Parliament, he believed that office would deliver.
He said the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice was the only offices established by the constitution to fight corruption.
He, therefore, urged Parliament to ensure that it was resourced and protected so that “it stands above ordinary ministries and can ensure that criminality is dealt with in this country”.
“If we agree that a prosecutor fighting corruption needs to be resourced, why have we not been resourcing the Attorney-General?
“Why do we establish an entity out of the functions of the A-G and resource them more than the A-G and even after doing that, it is still not delivered,” he said.
He reminded the House of the recommendation by the former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, for Parliament to abolish the OSP through the use of a private member's bill.
“Mr Speaker, let me sound a warning that abolishing it will not let off the hook anybody who is culpable and who has violated the laws of Ghana when it comes to financial accountability.
Weaponising powers
Supporting the call for the SP to appear before the House, the Minority MP for Ofoase/Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said he would have wished that the Business Committee had properly programmed the invitation of the Special Prosecutor “so that it would have been part of the earlier conversations”.
Describing the concerns of the Majority Chief Whip as an important matter, he said the matter was not entirely about the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
He said it was about a culture that had crept into the investigative and law enforcement bodies in the country.
We’re not getting results
In support, the Speaker also recalled that during the deliberation on the OSP in the House, he and several MPs stated on the floor that there was no constitutional basis for it.
“But we wanted to signal to the world that we are going to fight corruption and at the end of the day, we have seen the results.
“And we cannot continue to allocate that huge sum to the same office when we are not getting the results,” he said.
Mr Bagbin said it was time the right thing was done. He also agreed with the Majority Leader’s call for the OSP to be abolished.
