Kissi Agyebeng
Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has disclosed that his office is investigating 31 corruption and corruption-related cases.
He said the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has completed a review of all the alleged cases of corruption and corruption-related offences, adding that “currently, the OSP is investigating 31 active cases and it will, in due course, commence the prosecution in the courts of the cases it considers probatively strong.”
Addressing the press yesterday as part of the commemoration of International Anit-Corruption Day, Mr. Adjebeng who assumed office in August following the resignation of the first Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu, said “there is no case commenced by the OSP pending in the courts at the moment.”
“Upon my assumption of office on 5 August, 2021 as the second Special Prosecutor of the Republic, I noticed that the OSP had not been operationalised and it was without its own staff and necessary resources,” he said, adding “the fight against corruption had, in effect, been thrown in reverse for three (3) years.”
“I immediately triggered the processes to set up and operationalise the Office, to staff it with specialized trained personnel and to fit it with the required material resources and equipment. By so doing, the fight against corruption has been resuscitated and we will carry on the renewed fervour during my tenure in office,” Mr. Adjebeng said.
He said that “Ghana made its most definitive statement on the strife against corruption with the passage of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) which came into force on 2 January 2018 and established the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) as the gold standard and flagship specialized independent anti-corruption agency, in pursuance of the Convention, with the object of investigating and prosecuting specific cases of alleged or suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in the public and private sectors, recovering the proceeds of such acts by disgorging illicit and unexplained wealth and taking steps to prevent corruption.”
He also said “the notable advancement is that the OSP is fortified with the cure of the inadequacies of the existing anti-corruption agencies by being designed as a comprehensive anti-graft agency with investigative, prosecutorial, intelligence gathering, surveillance and counter surveillance, police, national security and revenue generating powers. The OSP is thus a vital institution for economic development.”
The Special Prosecutor noted that the assignment and full dedication by the government of a ten-storey building at South Ridge, Accra for the sole use of the OSP and the steps taken and being taken by the Office of the President and the Chief of Staff in the establishment and maintenance of the OSP are highly commendable and a testament to a commitment to the fight against corruption.
“We will carry on the renewed fervour during my tenure in office…As the institution specifically tasked with taking steps to prevent corruption, I resolve that in the coming year, the OSP will institute and strengthen measures to prevent, suppress and repress corruption more efficiently and effectively than has ever been done in this Republic,” adding “this should portend hope that Ghana is taking concrete steps to drive down the incidence of corruption.”
The Special Prosecutor said that “public agencies would be ranked against each other on a corruption barometer and the results would be publicised every December 9.”
“We cannot continue on the path of see-no-evil-hear-no-evil. So let us expose the evil of corruption and let us eschew corrupt practices – as we bear in mind that ours should be a life of live-and-let-live in the national interest. We must transform our thinking and psyche from a ritualistic gift-giving society marked by undeserved attainment of wealth to secure undue advantage in all spheres of life to one of merit-based rewards. This is our sure chance to curb corruption and we cannot miss this opportunity,” he said.
“As we mark International Anti-Corruption Day and anti-corruption week, I invite all well-meaning Ghanaians to renew our mindsets and collectively help to turn the negative narrative of corruption to transform this Republic and place it on a solid developmental track,” he added.
By Nii Adjei Mensahfio