The Director of Strategy, Research, and Communication at the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), Samuel Appiah Darko, has criticised individuals who unjustifiably attack the OSP.
He argues that the criticism from a section of the public that the OSP has been ineffective since its creation, due to its lack of convictions, is unfounded.
According to him, the OSP began arraigning people in 2022, and couldn’t have convicted suspects from that time till now, given that the average duration for criminal conviction in Ghana is between 3 to 4 years.
Mr. Darko was setting the records straight on some concerns raised by some panelists on TV3’s BigIssue segment on the NewDay programme, regarding its invitation and detention of journalist Paul Adom-Otchere, who previously served as Board Chair of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL).
Addressing concerns over the impact of the Office’s work on the nation so far, he explained that the primary goal of investigating state loot is to effect recovery, which can be achieved in two ways, one of which they have done so far, rendering the criticisms unjustifiable.
He was responding to the assertion that the Office’s convictions have been limited to plea bargaining agreements, noting that this still fulfills the purpose of recovery.
“You can recover after conviction, and you can recover, if there is a plea bargain. The average criminal trial in Ghana is about 3-4 years,” he said Friday, August 1, 2025.
He explained further that “the OSP started putting people before court from 2022, up till date, and yet some people expect the OSP should have by now convicted them which is not the OSP’s job, it is the job of the court.”
Mr. Darko further noted that ongoing trials across the country go through various stages, reiterating that “it will take a while” before convictions are secured.
He added that the Office’s smooth operation, even after its establishment, is an achievement worth celebrating, contrary to the public perception that the OSP has been a failure due to its lack of convictions.
“You do not judge the OSP everyday by saying [since] 2020, what has been done? A lot has been done. Even establishing the office and make it functional now is a lot of achievement. First they used to say there is no conviction, now that there is conviction, then they changed the argument to ‘it’s just plea bargain conviction,” he condemned.
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