Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has said that he wants the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to remain.
He says his issues with the OSP have to do with the Special Prosecutor and not the entire office.
Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, April 18, Martin Kpebu noted that there are issues against Kissi Agyebeng because of misgovernance at the OSP.
“As for that office, I want it to remain. I am not taking an entrenched position; it is a debate. Let the Supreme Court decide. We are where we are today because there is a groundswell of opposition against Kissi Agyebeng because of the bad governance.”
Also speaking on the same issue on the same show, CEO of Ghana Shippers Authority, Professor Ransford Gyampo, said that the legal contradictions in respect of the prosecutorial powers of the Office of the Special Prosecutor cannot be glossed over.
He said that despite the quest to fight corruption, these legal contradictions cannot go unattended.
Their comments come amid assurances from the Attorney-General’s Department that it will comply with the court’s directive that takes away the prosecutorial powers of the OSP.
Deputy Attorney-General, Justice Srem Sai, stated that “the Honourable Attorney-General has no intention or capacity to disobey or ignore the High Court’s order.”
The High Court in Accra, on Wednesday, April 15, ordered the Attorney-General’s Department to take over all ongoing prosecutions being handled by the OSP until the Office secures the constitutionally required authorisation to prosecute independently.
The ruling follows a legal challenge by Peter Archiblod Hyde, an accused person in an OSP-led case, who argued that the Office lacked the authority to prosecute without express approval from the Attorney-General. The court held that the OSP failed to demonstrate that it had obtained such authorisation.
Prof Gyampo called for a dispassionate discussion of issues on the powers of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
He noted that some have attached emotions to discussions about the court judgment against the OSP.
“The reality is settling in; we are all tired of corruption, but at the same time, we must not be oblivious to the contradictions that confront us.
“What has happened has generated a lot of public discussion on this. Some are being dispassionate, others are being emotional. We cannot fight corruption, legal contradictions that exist,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, April 18.
