Fourteen civil society organisations have applied to the Supreme Court of Ghana for permission to join a case challenging the constitutionality of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959), describing the matter as one of significant public interest.
The coalition filed its application on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in the case of Adamtey v Attorney-General (Suit No. J1/3/2026), which is currently before the court. The case seeks to test key provisions that established the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
In a joint statement issued a day later, the groups said their intervention is not intended to advance any partisan or personal agenda, but to support the court’s constitutional interpretation.
“The applicants take this opportunity to emphasise that their intervention is not partisan, adversarial, or personal to any party before the Court,” the statement said.
“It is motivated solely by a shared commitment to constitutionalism, accountable governance, anti-corruption, institutional integrity, and the preservation of independent public institutions established to serve the Republic.”
The organisations include the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development, Transparency International Ghana, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, IMANI Africa, Democracy Hub, STAR-Ghana Foundation, NORSAAC, Penplusbytes, Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Odekro, A Rocha Ghana, Parliamentary Network Africa, One Ghana Movement, and Africa Education Watch.
According to the coalition, several of the organisations played direct roles in drafting and advocating for the law’s passage in 2017, including engagements with Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee. They say this background gives them valuable institutional memory that could assist the court.
The applicants, represented by a legal team including Kizito Beyuo, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, Samson Lardy Anyenini, and Clement Kojo Akapame, are seeking admission as amici curiae (friends of the court) to provide legal and policy perspectives without becoming direct parties to the case.
They also commended the Supreme Court for what they described as its growing openness to civil society participation in constitutional matters.
“The Court’s openness to structured civil society engagement in constitutional adjudication has, in recent years, enriched the deliberative record before it,” the statement noted, adding that this reflects “a maturing of constitutional practice in Ghana.”
If granted permission, the coalition says it will support the court with comparative anti-corruption standards, institutional analysis, and broader public interest arguments relevant to the case.
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Read the full statement below:
