Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu is demanding the immediate dismissal of Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng and two senior officials of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), following the decision to charge former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and others over the controversial revenue assurance contracts between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML).
On Tuesday, November 18, the OSP filed 78 charges against eight individuals. The accused include former GRA Commissioners-General Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah and Emmanuel Kofi Nti, senior officials Isaac Crentsil and Kwadwo Damoa, former Finance Ministry Technical Advisor Ernest Akore, SML owner Evans Adusei, and SML itself.
According to the OSP, months of investigative work uncovered alleged corruption, abuse of office, and procurement breaches in the award and execution of the SML–GRA contracts. Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng has maintained that evidence gathered “points to criminal conduct” at several stages of the contracting process.
Speaking in an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, Mr Kpebu said he no longer has confidence in the Special Prosecutor’s ability to effectively prosecute the former finance minister.
He accused Agyebeng of failing to arrest Ofori-Atta despite allegedly being aware of his travel arrangements, insisting that such an oversight makes him unfit for the task.
Kpebu also called for the removal of Sammy Darko, Director of Strategy, Research and Communication at the OSP, and Albert Akurugu, the office’s Lead Investigator.
“The Office of the Special Prosecutor should stay, but Kissi Agyebeng must go. Albert Akurugu and Sammy Darko should get out of that office. Sammy Darko runs errands for Kissi Agyebeng. If Kissi Agyebeng is leaving, his right-hand men must follow him.
“They will be moles if left there. Kissi Agyebeng has to go; we can never trust him. You see the number one suspect and you allow him to escape,” he argued.