President John Dramani Mahama has opposed calls for the closure of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
Recently, following the OSP’s detention of private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu, many called of the scrapping of the OSP, insisting that the Office has not achieved the purpose for which it was created – which is fighting corruption by prosecuting corrupt officials.
One of such persons is the Director of Communications for the United Party, Solomon Owusu.
Speaking at the Jubilee House on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, President Mahama explained that it is premature for persons to demand the scrapping of the Office.
“That’s why we are resourcing the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) and the other anti-corruption institutions including the Office of the Special Prosecutor and recently there have been some controversy with the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
“I think it is premature to call for the closure of that Office,” the President stated.
The President believes the OSP has been uniquely established to fight corruption, noting that it is the only anti-corruption agency with prosecutorial powers and can prosecute without taking authority from the Attorney-General.
According to him, the OSP unlike the Attorney-General is not a partisan office but a neutral one to established to fight corruption.
“The unique thing about that Office is it is the only anti-corruption agency that has prosecutorial powers to be able to prosecute themselves without going through the Attorney-General.
“And so, people had mistrust for the Attorney-General because the Attorney-General normally is a member of government and a Minister of Sate and so they believe that the Attorney-General will be very reluctant to prosecute his own,” he stressed.
President Mahama urged the Special Prosecutor to speed up its investigations into corruption-related cases, prosecute corrupt officials and prove to the public that the Office is still relevant.
“I think we should give them (OSP) a little time. Of course, people want to see more prosecutions and more resolves. So, I will just urge the OSP to speed up some of these investigations and also show people that the Office is still relevant,” President Mahama remarked.
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin had earlier said there was no constitutional basis for the establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
The Speaker had noted that Ghana only established the Office to prove a point that it was prepared to tackle corruption.
“If you recall, during the deliberation on the OSP, a number of us stated on the floor of this House that it has no constitutional basis but we wanted to signal to the world that we are going to fight corruption,” Bagbin stated.
Speaking on the floor of the House, Thursday, December 4, 2025, Bagbin emphasised that the end results for the establishment of the OSP has vindicated persons who oppose its formation earlier, noting that government cannot continue to allocate huge sums to the Office without any relevant outcome.
“At the end of the day, we have seen the results and we cannot continue to allocate that huge sums to the same office when we are not getting the results. This is one of the agencies we should be looking at,” he remarked during the debate in Parliament about the constitutionality and effectiveness of the OSP.
