The Minority in Parliament has raised strong objections to a recent High Court ruling directing the Attorney-General to take over all criminal cases being handled by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Office of the Special Prosecutor), describing the decision as legally flawed.
According to the caucus, Article 88(4) of the 1992 Constitution already grants the OSP sufficient authority to prosecute cases without requiring repeated approval from the Attorney-General. They argue that imposing such a requirement undermines the independence of the office.
Speaking on Accra-based Citi FM, Legal Counsel to the Minority and Member of Parliament for Suame, John Darko, described the ruling as a “complete mistake.”
“If anybody interprets Section 4 of the OSP Act to mean that any time we want to bring a prosecution… we need to go to the Attorney-General’s office for clearance, you’ll be mistaken. Because then there was no need to set up the office for it to be controlled by the executive,” he said.
The concerns come after a ruling delivered in Accra on Wednesday, April 15, which instructed the Attorney-General to assume control of all ongoing prosecutions initiated by the OSP.
The court also declared those cases null and void pending proper authorisation, a move that has effectively stalled several high-profile corruption cases.
However, the Minority further warned that the ruling could have wider implications for Ghana’s anti-corruption efforts, arguing that it places excessive control over the OSP’s prosecutorial powers in the hands of the executive.
He also challenged the court’s decision to nullify the cases, saying, “The judge, again, was wrong. He cannot declare all the cases as null and void… The only court that has that power would be the Supreme Court.”
The Minority has since called on the Attorney-General to show commitment to the fight against corruption by allowing the OSP to continue handling its cases, warning that the situation raises concerns about the government’s resolve to tackle corruption effectively.
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