Special Prosecutor Is Not Getting The Needed Support To Fight Corruption – Bernard Ahiafor

Ranking Member on the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affais committte, Beranrd Ahiafor has obsereved that the Office Of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) is not getting the needed institutional support to perform its mandate.

According to the Akatsi South lawmaker, the recent lamentation by the Special Prosecutor during a press conference where he declared himself as the sacrifical bird in the corruption fight attests to the lack of institutional support to the office.

“I believe strongly because, the Special Prosecutor is not getting the institutional suppor,t he has to do a press conference to say that he is: “ankwa nomaa, ode ne kra abo aforie”..

Mr Kissi Agyaben at a press conference on November 29, 2023, voiced his frustration over the escalating number of dismissive rulings in corruption cases and cautioned that the growing trend could have grave implications for the country’s anti-corruption efforts.

“We do not force feed cases, we do not force feed our prosecutions. We believe that it is not a matter of us going beyond our mandate but rather a case of hasty dismissiveness and lack of regard because if you take the four cases I tabled out over a period spanning from July 2022 to Monday, there is a troubling trend. In one of the cases, I said a judge injuncted us from arresting a person. Mind you, we were not in court.”

“We had declared the person wanted as a fugitive from justice, there was no enquiry as to why we believed that the person was a fugitive from justice so it is not as if we breached the law. No one asked us why we declared the person wanted. Then we were served with an injunction order that we cannot arrest the person meanwhile we know that in our law no one has the right not to be arrested. You cannot say you are granting a person a right not to be arrested,” he said.

Mr Ahiafor wondered if the country is really serious in the fight against the canker of corruption following the developments the OSP talked about.

He stated that, the mandate of the OSP investigating and prevent corruption and related matters cannot be achieved without the needed institutional support and collaboration

“If you listen to him (the Special Prosecutor) you can come to a conclusion that, this is a statement made out of frustration”, Mr Ahiafor obsereved.

He made the observation on the floor of Parliament Tuesday December 12, 2023 as the House approved an estimated amount of Ghc 150 million budget for the OSP for the year ending December 31st 2024.

By: Christian Kpesese/www.eagleghana.com