Former Special Prosecutor, Martin Alamisi Burnes Kaiser Amidu, has accused William Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, of engaging in crimes he claims to be fighting other institutions against.
According to him, what the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) uncovered in their investigations in the Northern Region is something the two agencies themselves are guilty of.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) have announced that they saved Ghana a significant sum of GH¢34,249,737.6 for the 2024 financial year.
The two bodies conserved this amount after scrutinizing the government payroll in the Northern Region, covering educational institutions under the Ghana Education Service and the Tamale Teaching Hospital.
The investigation was initiated after the OSP blocked some “ghost names” in January 2024, leading to the tracing of an amount of GH¢2,854,144.80.
But in a release issued Tuesday, May 21, 2024, Mr. Amidu noted that “I have in my possession letters written and signed by Kissi Agyebeng without reference numbers violating Article 195 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 21 of Act 959. Kissi Agyebeng, the Chief Accountant of the OSP, (who is an employee of the CAGD), and the CAGD are paying unconstitutionally employed staff of the OSP vast amounts of salaries and allowances each month from the public purse without any authority under the 1992 Constitution.”
He says Mr. Agyebeng should be confessing to Ghanaians how he has been appointing staff although having no appointing authority, and has been paying same without conditions of service in their appointment letters.
According to the former Attorney-General under the Mills administration, he does not expect Mr. Agyebeng to throw stones whilst living in a glass house.
“The OSP and Kissi Agyebeng who heads it ought to be confessing to Ghanaians that Kissi
Agyebeng wrote and signed letters without any constitutional authority appointing and paying staff without stating their conditions of service in the appointment letters. Kissi Agyebeng then signed another set of two letters in his personal capacity as the Special Prosecutor months later with conditions of service bearing the same dates confirming those appointments with two separate ranks assigned to the same staff.
“The implication as Kissi Agyebeng knows is that the staff petitioned against the rank initially assigned, and Kissi Agyebeng in suspected criminality wrote the second letter and back dated it to enable the 2 abuse of the OSP payroll by the CAGD and himself. This is the tip of the iceberg! When you live in a glass house you do not throw stones!” he stated.
This comes few days after Mr. Amidu petitioned President Akufo-Addo to remove Kissi Agyebeng as the Special Prosecutor.
Mr Amidu has alleged procurement breaches in the purchase of vehicles for the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and abuses involving judges and the administration of justice as part of his call for Mr. Agyebeng’s impeachment.
Other allegations include violations of citizens’ rights through arrests and detentions, violations of the right to information, and improper appointments of personnel to the office.
Additionally, Mr. Amidu alleges a violation of the right to information when he requested appointment letters and salary details of all OSP staff to be put on a pen drive for him, which Mr. Agyebeng refused.
The petition dated April 30, 2024, was presented to President Akufo-Addo and forwarded to the Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo, on May 6, 2024 for onward processing.
The Chief Justice is determining whether there is a prima facie case to establish a committee for Mr. Agyebeng’s removal as required by the Constitution in Article 146.
