President John Dramani Mahama’s position that the calls for the scrapping of the OSP is premature, should not stop the two Members of Parliament pursuing the dissolution of the Office, lawyer Martin Kpebu, an anti-corruption crusader, has asserted.
Majority Leader and Majority Chief Whip, Mahama Ayariga and Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, have filed a private member’s bill in Parliament to get the Act that established the Office repealed.
This follows the recent brouhaha about the constitutionality of the OSP and its functions, generating a debate over whether the Office should be maintained or dissolved.
The bill came the same day President John Dramani 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, 2025, 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 A-G 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.”
Reacting to the development, Martin Kpebu, who has hinted of petitioning the presidency to remove William Kissi Agyebeng as the Special Prosecutor, says the President’s comments are his opinion, and that does not stop the debate from going on.
On TV3’s Ghana Tonight on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, the lawyer said it was important the President came out to speak since people had started accusing him of orchestrating the dissolution of the OSP.
Commending the President’s tolerance for freedom of speech, Mr. Kpebu averred that President Mahama’s comments only spice up the conversation over the Office which he says would generate better reforms to shape the institution to properly fight corruption.
“I expect the MPs to go on. It’s a debate. The President has come to state his opinion. He has not publicly, and that would even be undemocratic, asked the leaders to stop and we don’t want the conversation to stop.
“So, let the conversation go on in Parliament and others would wade in. We all know that generally, President Mahama’s record on freedom of speech is better than the previous President. So Mahama has not come out to stifle the debate. He has come to remove his mouth from the debate because people were already accusing him,” he expressed.
He further disclosed his resolve to support the two lawmakers’ pursuit to get the Act repealed, which he says is not his position though, but believes would help modify the Office to help fight corruption proper.
“…so, Dafeamekpor and Hon. Ayariga, I’m going to give them support,” he stated.
Bill to scrap OSP: ‘It’s good Ayariga & Dafeamekpor have taken it to another level’ – Kpebu
