Kissi Agyebeng
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has filed a notice of appeal challenging the decision of a High Court which said the Office has no independent power to prosecute without the authorisation of the Attorney General (AG).
The OSP has also filed an application for stay of execution pending the hearing and determination of the appeal against the decision.
The issue came up during the trial of former Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta and seven others who have been charged for their involvement in a revenue assurance contract awarded by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) which, according to the OSP, has allegedly caused the nation over GH¢1.4 billion financial loss.
Adelaide Kobiri-Woode, Principal Prosecutor at the Office of the Special Prosecutor, told the court that between the last adjourned date and yesterday, there have been some court proceedings, particularly the High Court decision and a pending writ at the Supreme Court concerning the prosecutorial powers of the OSP.
She urged the court to take judicial notice of those court processes and proceedings, while asking the court to adjourn the case pending the hearing and determination of the appeal and the stay of execution.
Lawyers for all the accused persons did not oppose the request but asked the court to take a date that is reasonably further so that they don’t have to come back for more adjournments.
The court, presided over by Justice Francis Achibonga, granted the request and adjourned the case to May 26, 2026.
On April 15, 2026, a High Court in Accra presided over by Justice Eugene Nyante Nyadu, ordered the Attorney General to take over all prosecutions currently being handled by the OSP in the various courts pending the submission of its application to the Attorney General for the grant of authorisation to its officers by way of an Executive Instrument to enable them prosecute criminal offences.
The court also set aside all convictions secured by the Office of the Special Prosecutor as a result of its failure to obtain the authorisation of the Attorney General to initiate the prosecution of those cases as spelt out in Section 4(2) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).
According to the court, presided over by Justice John Eugene Nyante Nyadu, the OSP does not have the power to initiate the prosecution of criminal offences without the express authorisation of the Attorney General who is mandated by Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution to initiate criminal cases in the name of the Republic.
“The purported exercise of prosecutorial power by the respondent (OSP) without lawful authorisation is unlawful,” the court held its ruling on an application challenging the authority of the OSP to initiate prosecution of corruption and related offences without the authorisation of the Attorney General.
The order only affects two known cases in which the OSP has secured convictions—both of which resulted in a plea bargain with the accused persons.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak