Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, has argued that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) is not needed in Ghana’s fight against corruption.
He says time and history have shown that the OSP cannot succeed, citing instances where the Office was set up under previous administrations and failed.
“Let the records reflect that this is not the first time of having the Office of the Special Prosecutor. We’ve had it before. In fact, under the PNDC, there was a special prosecutor.”
According to him, the conversation about the OSP’s effectiveness came up after the Kufuor administration was accused of selectively prosecuting persons affiliated with the then opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He says the development led to calls for the establishment of the Office when William Akufo-Addo was being confirmed in Parliament as Attorney-General.
His comments come on the back of the brouhaha surrounding the prosecutorial powers of the OSP.
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Speaking on the BigIssue segment on the NewDay morning show on Monday, April 20, 2026, Mr. Tameklo narrated how the Office had existed since Nkrumah’s time but failed to work, and resurfaced during Akufo-Addo’s time without success.
“We got to a point where people said it appears that from 2001 to 2008, all the people prosecuted for corruption and corruption-related offenses or even causing financial loss were all former appointees of Jerry Rawlings.
“So, during Nana Akufo-Addo’s confirmation hearing in Parliament for the position of Attorney-General, the question of weaponizing the Office of the Attorney-General for political prosecution became a strong conversation,” he stated.
He explained that was when “the view was expressed that there should be an office that, if it does the prosecution, it would not be coloured or have a political undertone” making the then opposition NPP “put it in its manifesto that there was a need for the Office of the Special Prosecutor” in 2016.
Expressing his opinion on the essence of the Office, he noted that there was no need for the creation of the OSP in the first place, considering how previous establishments fared.
“So, we’ve tried it. Even Bright Akwetey, at a point he was a special prosecutor. So we’ve experimented this idea before,” he stated.
“For some of us we felt that, right from the beginning, there was no need for it because I’ve looked at Ghana’s history from 1956, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah contemplated this whole idea of having the OSP so it’s been part of our political history,” he added.
