Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga and his Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, have drafted a private member’s bill to repeal the OSP Act and abolish the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
The draft bill is yet to be presented to Parliament.
It comes on the same day President John Mahama indicated that it is too early for anyone to call for the abolition of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), insisting the institution still holds an important role in Ghana’s anti-corruption framework.
Speaking during a courtesy call by the National Peace Council at the Jubilee House on Wednesday, December 10, the President stressed that the OSP remains the only anti-corruption body with full prosecutorial independence.
“I think it’s premature to call for the closure of that office,” President Mahama said.
“The unique thing about that office is that it is the only anti-corruption agency that has prosecutorial powers to prosecute cases itself without going through the Attorney-General.”
He explained that public distrust in the Attorney-General’s office, because the AG is part of the sitting government, makes the independence of the OSP even more crucial.
“People believe the Attorney-General will be very reluctant to prosecute his own,” he noted.
“But if there is an independent office like the Office of the Special Prosecutor, it won’t matter who you are, because they have security of tenure and the prosecutorial authority to act.”
