Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga Agrees to Reconsider Bill to Repeal Office of Special Prosecutor
Majority Leader of Ghana’s Parliament, Mahama Ayariga on the floor of parliament.
Accra, Ghana- Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga has announced in Parliament that he will reconsider his decision to sponsor a Private Member’s Bill seeking to repeal the law establishing the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
His remarks came a day after President John Dramani Mahama publicly requested that the bill be withdrawn, describing the OSP as a “vital cog in the fight against corruption.”
Speaking on the floor of the House, Mahama Ayariga confirmed that he had earlier submitted the draft bill co-signed by the Majority Chief Whip to the Committee on Private Members’ Bills after the Speaker referred it for consideration. The committee, he said, had already granted approval for the measure to be laid before Parliament.
“It is true that yesterday there was a statement by His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama requesting that I reconsider my decision,” Mahama Ayariga told lawmakers. “His Excellency the President also has some thoughts about it, and I also add mine to his. I believe together we can find a better way of managing the situation.”
He added that he has “always had confidence in the wisdom of the President” and assured Parliament that the leadership would review the next steps following the President’s intervention.
“On the basis of the request made to me by His Excellency the President and my colleague, the Majority Chief Whip, I want to assure you that we will reconsider our decision,” he said.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor, created by Act 959 in 2017, is Ghana’s independent anti-corruption agency tasked with investigating and prosecuting cases of corruption involving public officers and politically exposed persons.
President Mahama, in a statement signed by Minister for Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu, reiterated his administration’s support for strengthening the OSP and urged it to “boost public confidence in its work and frontally tackle corruption.”
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