Kissi Agyebeng
The Special Prosecutor has said officers of the Electoral Commission (EC) who indulge in malpractices such as changing election results will be arrested and prosecuted.
Kissi Agyebeng, who granted series of interviews yesterday, said his mandate is not only to tackle financial crimes but also look at all other corruption-related offences and corrupt EC officials fall within the ambit.
“If you are an electoral officer or a returning officer and you change results, I am going after you,” he said, explaining “Immediately you declare the results, I am going after it and matching polling stations and matching pink sheets with pink sheets and if they don’t tally, I am going after you.”
Office Set Up
He said he met an empty office when he assumed his mandate, and said only one person was on the payroll of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) with nine others on secondment.
“Some of the divisions include Finance and Administration; there is no HR. We have given you Prosecution Division but there’s no Prosecution Division. Investigation Division isn’t there. Asset Recovery and Management isn’t there. The law says the office can create more divisions but if the ones stipulated in the law isn’t available, not to talk of what you (Special Prosecutor) must set up,” he explained.
Work In Progress
Mr. Agyebeng said that “what we are doing now is that we are building the ship as we are sailing. The office was established in 2018. The Act was passed in 2017 and the assent was given in 2018. So, imagine my shock when I go in after 5th August to find out that the office has been established but it hasn’t been set up and it hadn’t been operationalised.”
“So, I’m setting it up and operationalising it. I won’t say nothing has been done; things had been done but the office hadn’t been set up,” he admitted.
He said the “Act provided for the establishment of some divisions and if the board were minded, to create further divisions, but when I took up, there are no structures, no division, department and all.”
“Nothing had been set up; nothing – even a front desk. Not a single division, no HR, there was nothing when I took up that job,” he said.
“There is only one person on the payroll. I won’t disclose who. So, you have a chief accountant, who is on secondment; and one investigator, who is on secondment from the police [service]. You have a lawyer, who’s on secondment from the Attorney General’s office and that’s that.
“The rest then will be gatemen, cleaners, stewards, an office secretary, a special assistant to the office. In all, I counted 10, first day. Second day, one resigned because I asked him some questions he couldn’t provide answers to it. So, within 24 hours, nine; but it’s only one on payroll. What are you going to do?”
“By the end of January, immediately I get a Board, I’m going to have, at least, 250 staff,” he assured.
Amidu Attack
Mr. Agyebeng reacted to some remarks made about him by his predecessor Martin Amidu when his nomination was announced.
“When I heard Martin Amidu’s ‘poodle’ comment, I shrugged. If you don’t know me and you sit in your house and write something for people to believe you, that’s you. I knew it will be a daunting task but I didn’t anticipate going into an office that’s not been properly set up. It meant that I had to revise my notes.”
He said just as there are people who want him to succeed, others are yearning for his failure, saying “if you have done nothing wrong, why should you be afraid? If you’re involved in corruption-related activities, I’m coming for you. I see some people on the divide praying and fasting that I fail. There are detractors all over. There are some well-meaning people who want this fight to go on well.”
Luxurious Lifestyles
The Special Prosecutor said people would have to start explaining how they acquired properties and are living in life of luxury.
“Those of you driving cars that we have no idea where you get them from. What work do you do to be driving a Bugatti? You will explain it to me. It’s also part of my job. I can give you a notice for you to report in my office to show me where you acquired the Bugatti from. What work do you do? Come and show me your salary . . . If you don’t explain it clearly to me for me to better understand, I will impound the car and proceed to court,” he warned.
All Targets
He made it clear that “the Office of Special Prosecutor is not targeting only politicians but public officials, politically exposed persons, meaning a person who the government has given a position in this country – the person can be a judge, police officer and so forth – and the person’s spouse, children and anyone closely associated with the person is politically exposed person. Also, political party officials like a party chairman at a constituency, a party chairman/executive at the national level; the Special Prosecutor can investigate all of them,” he said.
By Ernest Kofi Adu